Geoffrey Boycott wants Alastair Cook to be sacked as England captain

Former England opener and captain Geoffrey Boycott has voiced his support asking Alastair Cook to be axed as captain of the Test outfit who lost the five-match series against India, with a scoreline of 4-0 against them.

This series hammering comes after a 1-1 result in Bangladesh where the visitors lost the second Test at Dhaka.

The 76-year-old believes England need to make the axing as soon as possible to give the next captain adequate time and experience before the 2017 Ashes.

If we are to have a new captain, he needs all seven Tests to get his feet under the table," Boycott wrote in Daily Telegraph. "We don't want Alastair giving it up after three or four Tests."

Boycott also slammed Cook for clinging onto the job even after mentioning before the series that he might quit. The cricketer turned commentator believes Joe Root is quite ready to take up the challenge and that the post should be given to him at the earliest.

"This hasn't just happened. It must have been on his mind for some time. Normally, they sack losing generals, and he made a comment before the tour about how it might be his last."

"After we've lost the series, he says Joe Root is ready for captaincy, and nobody forced that out of him. Whoever captains in England this summer has seven Tests (against South Africa and West Indies) before the biggest series of all in the Ashes."

Even though Root has been quite a consistent performer for England in the last two years or so, many believe his 50 Tests are not enough to hand him the leadership but Boycott does not agree with them and says, "There's many a player who got the captaincy when he was young - Ted Dexter, Peter May. Some people thrive on it. Michael Vaughan and Nasser Hussain weren't county captains, and they did well. People either rise to the challenge or they don't."

Boycott also attacked the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for taking wrong decisions which led to misery for the visitors in India.

"Strauss has to make a decision, that's what he's paid for. What about the chairman Colin Graves, and the chief executive? They run the business, but the performance out here has been pathetic," he added.

"England pay the coaches and the director of cricket fortunes, but nothing will happen. They will beat people in England on seaming pitches and everything in the garden will be rosy."