Over the last 4 years of his 8 year Test career, India have been the opponents who have served up sufficiently gentle bowling to give his Test career some much needed buoyancy. Cook's career as a potentially all-time great England Test batsman began at Brisbane in November 2010. Over his first 108 Test innings, Cook had produced respectable scores, and established a Test average which held steady in the early 40s. At Brisbane, Cook made 235 not out in England's 2nd innings. The two other English batsmen who took strike in that innings also reached centuries. In 17 innings beginning in that Brisbane Test and finishing with England's only innings in the final Test of the 2011 summer season, Cook made 6 Test hundreds - 235, 148, 189, 133, 106 and 294. He also made two other scores of 96 and 82. Cook has made 8092 runs in 185 Test innings as I write this today. He made 1504 of those over a sequence of 17 innings from Brisbane to the Oval in those 9 months. Over the other 168 innings, he has not had a sequence of 17 innings where he made a 1000 runs, let along 1500.
The rate at which Cook played Tests (103 in just over 8 years) and his seeming ability to bat for long periods of time prompted speculation that he was most likely among all contemporary batsmen to reach Tendulkar's Test records. This is unlikely. But what is even more striking is the difference between Cook's scores against India and his scores against all other teams in between these outings against India. Each year in the adjoining chart signifies an India v England Test series in which Cook played. Each phase includes Test from the end of one Indian series to the beginning of the next.Since that 294 at Edgbaston, Alastair Cook has played 51 Test innings against teams other than India. These have brought him 1662 runs at 34, with 3 Test centuries. In the midst of all this modest scoring, he toured India and took 562 runs in 8 innings off them, including 3 centuries - 190, 176 and 122.
By any reasonable standard for a Test opener, Cook has failed with the bat in 4 out of the 5 Ashes he has played in. When he did make runs against Australia, nearly every other English batsman made big runs too. Of England's top 7 in that series, Paul Collingwood failed, making 83 runs in 5 Tests. Of the other six, the lowest average was recorded by Matt Prior - 43.
Cook will be pleased that England have only one more Test to play before he can face his favorite Indian bowlers again. India look particularly obliging this year. The ace fast bowler in India's Test squad is Ishant Sharma. Sharma has dismissed Cook 7 times in Tests, but Cook has taken 294 and 190 off him and Sharma averages 37 in Test Cricket. The inexperienced Mohammad Shami could cause trouble if he continues to pitch the ball up and attack the stumps. But like Ishant, he has a tendency to go for runs. As for the third bowler in Indian line who is capable of serious pace, Varun Aaron has only 19 first class matches worth of experience and in recent months, the most he has bowled in a single spell in competitive cricket is 2 overs.
Help is on the way.