In 2012, Alastair Cook was part of the England side decimated by Pakistan in the UAE, opening alongside Andrew Strauss, the Test captain he would go on to replace.
For the first time in his career, Cook struggled on Asian soil, amassing just 159 at an average of 26.50; a solitary fifty in the first innings of the second Test at Abu Dhabi was all he had to show for his efforts in the 3-0 series whitewash.
Cook has returned to the UAE a determined man, keen to set the record straight for the disabling defeat as well as make up for his own struggles with the bat three years ago.
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On Thursday, back in Abu Dhabi, Cook more than got the ball rolling with a masterful century on day three of this first Test.
In reaching three figures, Cook settled the ship for his side after a painful five-and-a-bit sessions in the searing UAE heat after Pakistan declared on 523-8.
It also ticked the UAE off as the last box on Cook’s list of Test century venues, meaning the 30-year-old has recorded at least one hundred in every country the he has wielded his Gray-Nicolls willow.
Unlike those meticulously pressed, stunning pieces of English bat manufacturing, Cook’s woes in 2012 went against the grain.
Made in Essex (there’s a TV show in there somewhere), Cook has found pitches in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh as homely as Chelmsford.
He is England’s highest Test run-scorer in Asia, racking up eight Test hundreds in 19 matches across the region. In the process, Cook has 1,970 (as of the close of day three) sub-continent runs at an average of 61.56 as of the close of play on day three in Abu Dhabi.
It puts him nearly 400 runs ahead of Kevin Pietersen, England’s second-highest Asian run-scorer and leaves him with the highest average for an Englishman to have played more than 10 Tests on the continent.
During this innings in Abu Dhabi, Cook also surpassed Ricky Ponting as the second-highest run-maker in Asia of any player outside the continent.
Jacques Kallis remains the flag bearer, but Cook will certainly chase down his total. The South African all-rounder scored 2,058 runs at 55.62 in Asia, including eight centuries and eight fifites in 25 matches.
Cook has scored his runs at a far quicker rate than both Kallis and Ponting (28 matches), and to be sandwiched between such greats on any all-time list would be the stuff of dreams for any young Test pretender.
For an Englishman with few positive memories of touring the region to draw upon (bar the, at times, heroic exploits of Graham Thorpe), it truly is a stunning achievement.
Cook’s ability to play both pace and spin so supremely, particularly off the back foot, has meant he has enjoyed slow, low, turners far more than the average England batsman – so used to getting his front foot down the pitch.
8 – Alastair Cook has eight Test centuries in Asia, the joint-most by a non-Asian player alongside Jacques Kallis. Adapted.
— OptaJim (@OptaJim) October 15, 2015
The 2012 series win in India was Cook’s seminal moment in Asia, the left-handed opener inspiring the tourists to their first series win there since 1984-85.
Cook bludgeoned 562 runs at an average of 80.28, hitting three hundreds in the four Test matches and leading England to a historic 2-1 victory.
Two months later, Cook and England were left embarrassed by their Pakistan humbling in the UAE, firmly bringing the team back down to earth after their heroics in India.
If Cook is to right that wrong this time around, he will need to continue leading England from the front and bat long hours for big scores.
It’s a tough ask but considering his record, there aren’t many other men you would want tasked with the challenge.
