Alastair Cook said on Tuesday (September 11) that he has to thank Jasprit Bumrah for saving him from “a lot of heartache” in his final appearance for England. 

Cook reached his century after his single to get to 97 turned into five runs after an overthrow from Bumrah went for four which allowed him to get to his 33rd ton in his final Test innings.  

As per reports in PTI, Cook told reporters, “I remember cutting it for 97 thinking that's three more to go. Just as he (Bumrah) let it go I thought, 'hang on a minute - he's launched that pretty hard'. As soon as I saw Ravi (Jadeja) not anywhere near it I thought 'hang on a minute... hang on a minute'. Look - it (the overthrow) saved me a lot of heartache. He's (Bumrah) also caused me a lot of heartache in this series. For him to then give me that little moment there, I'll thank him for a while.”

Alastair signed off by saying, “Then obviously it erupted. Joe (Root) didn't say anything. He was just saying "wow". He was just smiling. I think he was telling me to better take it in. The ovation was just incredible. That's probably the only one I've really taken in and thought - 'wow'. Then obviously the last 10-minutes as well today was special.”

The English opener managed to score only 109 runs in seven innings earlier in the series and said that the century only confirmed his decision to retire.