Bopara backs adaptable Cook to confound the critics again

Cook is already omitted from the Twenty20 squad to play Pakistan after the ongoing one-day international series in Dubai has concluded, and is without an appearance for his country in the shortest format since 2009.

Yet Pakistan could be forgiven a sigh of relief that the man responsible for back-to-back hundreds to take England into a 2-0 lead with two to play will not be given the chance here to further demonstrate his increasingly renowned adaptability.

Cook has already made a clutch of respected pundits look very silly for insisting he could not fine-tune his prolific, no-frills Test batting to ODI cricket.

There was an ‘expert’ chorus of disapproval when he was chosen to succeed Andrew Strauss as England’s ODI captain last summer, the consensus being that the opener was unable to score quickly enough in the World Cup discipline.

He has responded with three hundreds to date and a spiralling average and strike rate which has put all his team-mates in the shade.

Bopara, who has shared important stands with Cook in England’s two victories in Abu Dhabi and has known and so often batted with his Essex team-mate for more than a decade, is not among those who need any more convincing.

“He’s someone I’ve seen adapt so much over his career so far,” said Bopara, in fine form himself with two half-centuries in his last two ODI innings.

“I’ve played with him since I was 14, 15 – and with the amount he’s changed over the years, there’s no reason why he can’t change and become that Twenty20 player as well.”

Though his stoic Test-match persona still exists when the time is right, Cook knew he had to reinvent himself if he was to have a significant 50-over career.

World No 1 and world champions England are yet to be persuaded he can pull off the same trick in Twenty20 but Bopara disagrees.

“I’ve seen him play some class Twenty20 knocks for Essex,” he said. “There’s no reason he can’t do it for England. He’s someone I’ve seen adapt more than anyone in my whole career.

“Most definitely, I think he’s the sort of person who will play for England in Twenty20.”

Cook’s ODI effectiveness can surely not be up for debate much longer, after he became only the 10th England batsman to hit successive hundreds – and the first as captain.

Yet even Bopara is not entirely sure how he manages it.

“He just grinds it out. I don’t know how he keeps doing it. But he knows his areas; he’s a tough man; he’s hard on himself – and he’s a really good player.”

Cook’s second hundred on Wednesday was one of several similarities between England’s two wins here against Pakistan, who so thoroughly outplayed them to win the Test series 3-0.

Bopara’s 50 and fast bowler Steven Finn’s identical figures of 4-34 in each match provided more uncanny echoes of what had gone on two days before.

Bopara is hugely impressed with Finn. “The way he is bowling up front... I’ve never known a bowler to go for such a low economy rate and take wickets the way he has,” he continued.

“He’s improved so much over the last 12 months and good on him. He deserves it.”

Bopara will nonetheless be discouraging his team-mates from the notion that they can wrap up the series with the minimum fuss in Dubai.

“I wouldn’t want to think like that,” he said. “We’ve done that in the past. Individually, we’ve got a bit giddy and things just go wrong, so we’re not going to look too far ahead.”

The 26-year-old has a similar take on his own progress.

He hopes to be part of the Test squad England will name at the end of this tour to travel to Sri Lanka next month but he knows first of all he must concentrate on the here and now – most urgently staying on top of Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal.

He said: “I remember last summer, against India, I had a good series – but then I went out to India and didn’t.

“Things can change so quickly. I’m just keeping my feet on the ground. I’m just thinking about Ajmal and how I’m going to deal with him.”