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Cape Town - England middle order batsman Ian Bell feels that skipper Alastair Cook has earned the right to decide when to step down as captain.
Cook has plenty of critics after England suffered a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of India on their tour of the Asian nation.
Bell who has fallen out of favour with the England selectors feels that it is only a matter of time until Joe Root takes over from Cook.
Speaking from Australia where he is playing in the Big Bash Bell told cricket.com.au: “Cooky has earned the right to call his time.
“He’s been very successful not just in terms of the runs he’s scored, but also in terms of his stats as captain.
“We’ll see – it looks like ‘Rooty’ is the man to take over.
“I’m sure, as ‘Cooky’ has done right through his career, he’ll make the right call for the team ahead of his own individual thoughts.”
Bell feels Root's adaptability as a cricketer will serve him well as skipper.
He added: “He came into the team and started learning, (then) he got left out (but) then came back in. The great thing about Joe is he learns very quickly.
“He’s obviously become a world-class player like Smith and Kohli at the minute.
“He’s always had that natural ability. The consistency has been fantastic and hopefully that can continue when he does (become captain).
“I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before he does become England captain and hopefully those runs keep coming.”
Bell cracked a fifty for the Perth Scorchers on his BBL debut and is focused on performing well down under but he hasn't given up hope of earning an England recall.
He went on: “I definitely want to get back in the (Test) team.
“I’ve been very lucky to have had a long career.
“I’d like to force my way back in, but that’s not really on my mind out while I’m out here. My mind is just on winning games for Perth Scorchers.
“I haven’t played a lot of T20 through Test appearances. It’s nice to be able to get the opportunity to play in one of the best T20 tournaments in the world with some great players.
“I’m going to learn a lot from some very good players in the next month or so and try to improve my T20 skills.
“When you come to a new team and you’re the overseas player, you want to start well so it was nice to get a win and contribute with the bat.
