Legendary Indian batter Sachin Tendulkar finished his 24-year-long Test career with 15,921 runs to his name in 200 matches. The total of 15,921 runs is still a record for the most runs in Test cricket’s history by any batter. Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting is second on the list, but he finished his career with 13,378 runs, which is more than 2500 runs less than Tendulkar’s tally.
Former England captain Joe Root, who is in the form of his life these days and is scoring runs for fun, is seen as a potential candidate who can break Sachin’s record. The 33-year-old English star has 11,942 runs to his name in 143 Tests played so far.
Many former greats and experts of the game feel that Root will finish his career as the all-time leading run scorer in Tests, but when former India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik was asked about the possibility of Root overtaking Sachin during a Cricbuzz show, he said that Root is a gun player and he can go past Tendulkar’s tally, but for that, he needs to remain really fit in the next six years.
“Root has played 152 (143) Test matches and scored over 11,000 runs (11,942). Sachin Tendulkar has played 200 Test matches. So that would basically mean 48 Test matches more for Joe Root, which would at least take six seasons. And in six seasons, he has to get close to at least 4,500 runs. Is it a possibility? Joe Root is a gun player; it is a possibility,” Karthik said on the Hey CB with DK show.
“Couple of things. A – he needs to be really fit through the next six years, and he’ll be 39 by the time he finishes, so it’s not going to be easy, but mathematically, is it possible? Yes,” he added.
Root, who made his debut for England on December 13, 2012, against India in Nagpur, is the eighth-leading run scorer in Test cricket’s history. With the help of 32 centuries and 62 fifties, he has scored 11,942 runs for the Poms. The former England’s Test captain also holds the record for most runs and centuries in World Test Championship history.
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