'Cook should step down if he's taking captaincy for granted'

Former England skipper Nasser Hussain has called on Alastair Cook to step down and hand over captaincy to Joe Root if the left-handed opener feels he's taking the job for granted.

Before coming on the tour of India, Cook had admitted he did not know how long he would remain in the job, suggesting it could be as little as two months.

However, he played down that speculation of stepping down as skipper post the ongoing Test series against India before the start of the first Test itself.

Now, as England have lost the ongoing five-match series against the current Test No.1 team, both head coach Trevor Bayliss and Cook again found themselves answering a barrage of questions on the subject.

"If he still feels the same way he did when he started, if every defeat hurts him as much now as it did then, I believe he should carry on," Hussain, one of Cook's predecessors, was quoted as saying by Sport24.

"But if any part of him feels as if he's taking the job for granted, then he should have a serious think about handing it over to Joe Root. It's not a job you do lightly."

A rampant Virat-Kohli led-side will look to create history in the fifth and final Test against England beginning Friday by piling more misery on Cook in what could be his last outing as the tourists' skipper.

After completing an innings victory in the fourth Test on Monday in Mumbai, Kohli's men, who are now unbeaten for 17 matches in the longest format of the game, will become the first Indian team to go unbeaten in 18 matches by avoiding defeat in the series finale in the dead rubber at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. 

IMAGE: Former England captain Nasser Hussain.