Joe Root has etched his name in the history books with a brilliant run of form with the bat in the ongoing first Test between Pakistan and England at the Multan Cricket Stadium on Wednesday, October 9. Root has now become England’s leading run-scorer in Test cricket.
The right-handed batsman surpassed legendary English batsman Alastair Cook’s record of 12,472 runs to become the all-time leading run-scorer for England in Test cricket. The 33-year-old achieved this historic milestone on the third day of the Multan Test against Pakistan.
Joe Root surpasses Alastair Cook to become England’s leading run-scorer in Test cricket
Joe Root wrote history in just 268 innings, while Cook took 291 innings to score 12,472 runs in Test cricket. The former Englander has 33 hundreds and 57 fifties to his name in the traditional format of the game, while Root has already made 34 hundreds and 65 fifties.
HISTORY IN MULTAN 🙇
JOE ROOT BECOMES THE LEADER IN ENGLAND’S TEST HISTORY 🫡
Root surpasses Alastair Cook with 12472 runs. pic.twitter.com/IDhmKcOFU8
—Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) October 9, 2024
Now, the right-handed batsman has the most centuries, fifties and runs in England Test cricket, which has placed him among the all-time greatest batsmen the game has ever seen. Overall, Root is now the fifth highest run-scorer in the history of Test cricket.
Joe Root now among top 5 run-scorers in Test Cricket history
Joe Root has joined the elite ranks of the top five run-scorers in the history of Test cricket. The only players ahead of Root are Sachin Tendulkar (15,921 runs), Ricky Ponting (13,378), Jacques Kallis (13,289 runs) and Rahul Dravid (13,288 runs) in the list of top Test scorers.
Well, apart from Tendulkar, the records of Indian batting legend Rahul Dravid and legendary South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis are in jeopardy as Root now needs around 800 more runs to surpass these greats and get a little closer to the Master Blaster.
If Root manages to maintain his current form, he would certainly break the record of Dravid, Kallis and Ricky Ponting to become the second highest Test score of all time by the end of 2025. Well, the former England captain is batting aggressively against Pakistan in Multan.
He has already scored 72 runs off 118 balls and hit five boundaries on Day 3 of the ongoing opening Test of the three-match Test series between Pakistan and England in Multan. On Day 3, Pakistan’s bowlers struggled to put pressure on the English batsman.
Joe Root and Ben Duckett look dangerous in Multan Test
Root and Ben Duckett are already tackling their innings and aiming to reach hundreds in Multan. Notably, Root began his Test career in December 2012, making his debut for England against India in Nagpur, where he impressed with a solid 73 while batting at No. 6.
His highest score in Test cricket is an impressive 254, which he achieved against Pakistan at Old Trafford in July 2016. Root has five double centuries to his name to date in Test cricket. Earlier, during the same match in Multan, Root became the first player to surpass 5000 runs in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) to prove why he is one of the greats of the modern game.