Sachin Tendulkar was a genius, and I am not, says Cook

Speaking at the Lord's, Cook talked about how Sachin's record of overall Test runs is still a fair bit away. "Six thousand runs is a long way away.

"It was set by an incredibly talented genius. I'm no genius and Tendulkar is, so that is a long way ahead.

"I want to play for England for as long as I can and at the moment, I'm really enjoying it. I am really motivated and hungry and where that takes me who knows," he said reported AFP.

Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar, the first man to score 10,000 Test runs, had pegged Cook to surpass Sachin on the record. "So over the next 6-7 years, there might be a period when he (Cook) might have a terrific year where he might score a 1000 runs so that will certainly give him a chance. He has got age on his side, he is also one of the very fit players. He is less than 32 years and if he plays for 6-8 more years he has got a very good chance," the legendary batsman had said.

But Cook insisted that that was not how he played the game. "I've never lived my life by saying where I want to get to publicly.

Adding on to the conversation about breaking records, he said, "In private you have a few goals you want to try and achieve, but at the moment a lot of my goals are very immediate with this England team and as a captain that takes me away from personal milestones as a batter”.

Cook also threw his weight behind day-light Tests saying, "My general view of day-night Tests is that they're definitely something cricket authorities need to keep looking at -- because it's the way to keep the game moving with the times, making it more possible for spectators to come and watch,” reported AFP.

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He, however, wished that the Ashes was kept out of the experiment given the huge attendances the games already draw.

"A lot of the games have really good attendances, and it's probably not a series where you need to do it exactly at this time," he explained.

The 31-year-old also raised concerns about the other elements that could shape the match disproportionately – the quality of the ball and the time of batting.

"My issue with it is the quality of the pink ball (used under lights because the standard red one is deemed too hard to sight).

"No disrespect to the guys who make it -- but on the two occasions I've played, it doesn't seem to behave the same way as the red ball."

Cook expressed his concern that the game could be, too often, decided by the timing when one of the teams gets to bat. He said, "It's one of the great things about Test cricket - sometimes the ball swings conventionally, sometimes it reverses.

"On my two occasions with the pink ball, it didn't do any of that - and then it nipped all over under twilight.

"The quality of the ball is vital," reported AFP.

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