Cook dethrones Sangakkara, becomes most successful left-hand batsman in Test cricket

Former England skipper Alastair Cook on Monday became the most successful left-hand batsman in Test cricket as he surpassed former Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara's figure of 12400 runs in the longest format of the game.

The 33-year-old, who is playing his last international match, achieved the feat as soon as he reached the score of 76 on Day Four of the last Test of the ongoing five-match series against India.

In the overall list of Test cricketers, Cook is the fifth highest run-scorer after Sachin Tendulkar (15921), Ricky Ponting (13378), Jacques Kallis (13289) and Rahul Dravid (13288).

The departing cricketer did not disappoint his fans in his last match, as he went on to smash a centurion knock in the final innings of his international career. He is playing at the score of 103 along with Joe Root who has, so far, contributed 94 runs to the team's scorecard.

England have taken a strong lead of 283 runs in the final Test with 8 wickets remaining in their kitty, till lunch.