Joe Root, a fantastic batter from England showed some masterclass skills on Day 3 of the first Test between his side and Pakistan in Multan on Wednesday. He went past Alastair Cook to become England’s top-run-scoring batters in Test cricket and he now stands at the fifth spot on the all-time list where Sachin Tendulkar is still on top with 15,921 runs.

Joe Root Can Break Tendulkar’s Record, Says Cook

Root scored 71 before lunch, and with that became a record holder at 12,472 runs. Speaking for the BBC’s Test Match Special, Cook said that he thinks Root could eventually come close to breaking records held by Tendulkar.

“I can see him overhauling Sachin Tendulkar’s record,” he said.

“When I retired, I thought there was every chance that my record will be broken. I thought only the effects of captaincy and the hunger that takes out of you would stop him. I think the fact that Ben Stokes has taken over the captaincy has helped Root.“

“You could say Sachin is still the favourite but just. All great players who played for a long time have been lucky with injuries. You just never know what’s around the corner but it has to be something like it that could stop him.”

“But I don’t see that happening for Root to lose that hunger and ability to keep driving himself forward for the next couple of years,” he added.

Pakistan Vs England

Root remained not out on 176 runs off 277 balls, which took England’s total to 492/3 in 101 overs but left his team 64 runs behind the opposition. Harry Brook also ended up not out on 141 runs off 173 deliveries and marks the first player to score hundreds in four successive Tests in Pakistan.

As well, the partnership of 243 runs between Root and Brook becomes England’s highest for any wicket on Pakistani soil, replacing the previous record by Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett for the first wicket in Rawalpindi in 2022 to 233 runs.

Joe Root now has 12,402 runs in 146 Test matches, he has surpassed Alastair Cook to become England’s top run-scorer in Tests.