Cook plays down speculations of quitting England captaincy post India series

Alastair Cook has played down the speculations of him stepping down from the post of England skipper after the five-match Test series starting here from today.

The 31-year-old had earlier said that whatever his future may be as skipper, he is looking forward to continue his Test career as an opening batsman.

"Deep down I don't know how much longer I am going to carry on. It could be two months, it could be a year," Cook was quoted, as saying by cricket.com.au.

"I do look forward to the day when hopefully I can play a Test match as just a batter, there's no doubt about that. If that happens I am going to really enjoy standing at first slip and being the bloke who makes suggestions to whoever's in charge and not being the bloke who has to make the final decision," he added.

But speaking to reporters on the eve of the first Test, Cook clarified his comments saying, ""It was just an honest answer to a question that is quite hard to answer. When someone asks how long do you see yourself captaining forward, we don't really know, do you?"

"Ever since that Sri Lanka series just before the World Cup, I've been very open about this and with (ECB director) Andrew Strauss, and I say we'll take every series as it comes.

"So when someone says how long will you go on for, I say I don't know - two months, which will be the end of this series, or it could be six months or two years. That is the answer."

"The headline has been made and it wasn't my intention," Cook said.

"Like everything about the way I've gone about my business for the last two years, it's been a series-by-series judgment," he added.

Cook, who took over as England captain in 2012 and led his side to 2-1 series win against India in the same year, will aim to break Michael Atherton's record of 54 Tests as skipper when he leads his side to the opening Test against Virat Kohli's team in Rajkot on Wednesday.

In his tenure as captain so far, Cook has guided England to 24 Test wins, including two home Ashes series triumphs. His tally of 10,688 runs in 135 Tests is the highest by any England batsman.