Former Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting has made a bold prediction, putting his bet on England national cricket team batsman Joe Root to break Sachin Tendulkar’s record for most runs in Tests, saying that it will take the batsman 3-4 years to surpass the great batsman.
In recent years, Joe Root has emerged as a run-machine for the England national cricket team. The right-handed bowler has been the most consistent batsman in world cricket in the longest format of the game and is currently the number one ranked batsman in the format.
Root was at his best in the recently concluded Test match against West Indies. The batsman continued his good form and made sure to help his team win the series. During the series, he also completed 12000 runs in the longest format of the game and became the seventh highest run-scorer of all time.
Joe Root has a great chance of overtaking Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar in terms of the most runs scored in Tests. He is 1,351 runs behind the Australian legend and 4,000 runs behind Tendulkar. With the kind of form he is in, it won’t be a surprise if he overtakes both legends.
Ponting said Joe Root could overtake Sachin Tendulkar. He pointed out that the English batsman is scoring between 800 and 1000 runs a year and claimed that if he can keep up his hunger, he can become the leading run-scorer in Tests. Speaking to the ICC, he explained:
“He could potentially do it. He’s 33 years old… (more than) 3,000 runs behind. It depends on how many Test matches they play, but if they play 10 to 14 Test matches a year and if you’re scoring 800 to 1,000 runs a year, then that sort of indicates that he’s just three to four years away from getting there. So that will take him to 37 (years of age). If his hunger is still there, then there’s every chance he can do it.”
Every time he reaches 50, he goes on and makes a big hundred – Ricky Ponting on Joe Root
Ricky Ponting further spoke about how Joe Root has made a remarkable turnaround in his career. He underlined that the right-hander used to struggle to convert his half-centuries into centuries but is now making it all count. He explained:
“He’s someone who has gotten better and better over the last few years. There’s always talk about hitters hitting their prime at 30 and he certainly has. His conversion rates have been the most important thing.”
“Four or five years ago, he was making a lot of 50s and struggling to keep making hundreds, and recently he’s gone in the opposite direction. Almost every time he hits 50, he’s now making another hundred. So that’s been the real change for him.”
Joe Root will be in action when the England national cricket team takes on the Sri Lanka national cricket team. The two teams will meet in the three-match Test series, which will begin on August 21 in Manchester.
