England Opting To Bowl First At Lord's Wasn't An Ideal Decision, States Sachin Tendulkar
England Opting To Bowl First At Lord's Wasn't An Ideal Decision, States Sachin Tendulkar

Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar reckoned Joe Root has an arduous task to break the record of legendary Indian batter Sachin Tendulkar in Test cricket. In the ongoing Test series between England and New Zealand, Root is firing runs in all corners of the field just after quitting the Test captaincy in April.

After inspiring England to a five-wicket victory at the Lord’s with an unbeaten 115, Root hit 176 against New Zealand in the first-innings of the second Test at Trent Bridge in Nottingham.

Joe Root
Joe Root. Image: ICC

Joe Root goes past Sunil Gavaskar’s Test runs in second Test vs NZ

In the course of his sublime knock, Root leapfrogged Gavaskar (10122) and Pakistan’s Younis Khan (10099) and moved to the 12th spot in the highest run-getters list in Test cricket of all time. Root has now amassed 10191 runs in 119 Tests at 50.20 with 53 fifties and 27 centuries.

In the first Test at Lord’s, Root became the 14th player, and second Englishman, to achieve 10000 Test runs in red-ball cricket and became the quickest player to reach the milestone since making his debut. Root took nine years and 171 days to complete 10000 Test runs since his first appearance for England in the whites in 2012.

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Joe Root
Joe Root. Image Credits: Twitter

That is an insurmountable record: Sunil Gavaskar on chasing Sachin Tendulkar’s Test tally

Former Australian captain Mark Taylor said Joe Root can go past Tendulkar’s aggregate of 15,921 Test runs in the coming years. Gavaskar believes Root has the age on his side but will have to maintain the scoring rate and the energy to achieve the milestone.

“That is an insurmountable record because we are talking about another almost 6000 runs, which means you would have to score about 1000 runs or 800 runs over the next 8 years for you to get there,” Gavaskar told India Today.

Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Gavaskar. Credits: Twitter

“Joe Root has got age on his side (31 years old). He certainly can (break the record) if he can maintain that enthusiasm and go on. Root is scoring 150+ scores but it can take a toll on him, mentally and physically.

“Anything is possible in the game. We first thought Richard Hadlee’s 431 wouldn’t break, but that was overtaken. Then we thought of Courtney Walsh’s 519… So, I mean look where we are going. (It is) not impossible, but very very difficult,” he added. 

Root joined his predecessor Sir Alastair Cook as the youngest batter to score 10000 Test runs. Both Root and Cook took 31 years and 157 days to reach the landmark in the red-ball format.

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Also Read: Rashid Latif Feels Joe Root Needs To Maintain His Current Form For The Next 4-5 Years To Break Sachin Tendulkar’s Record