Joe Root, the England batter, skillfully avoided giving a straight answer to the question of whether he has thought of breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s record for most runs in Test cricket. This came after Root hit twin centuries in the ongoing second Test of the three-match series being played at Lord’s Ground.
During the second Test against Sri Lanka, the 33-year-old eclipsed Alastair Cook’s record for the most Test tons by an English batsman.
This was Joe Root’s second ton of the match. Following his 206-ball 143 in the first innings against Sri Lanka, Root hit 103 off 121 in the second innings, helping his team set a target of 483 runs for Sri Lanka to win the Test.
With the double centuries, Root’s Test career count now stands at 34 tons, placing him on par with Younis Khan, Sunil Gavaskar, Jacques Kallis, Mahela Jayawardena, and Brian Lara.
Joe Root says the main focus is to score runs to help England win Tests and not break Sachin Tendulkar’s record
The 34th century also increased Root’s career run total to 12377 runs, putting him just 96 runs away from not only reaching the rare top five all-time list but also surpassing Cook for the most runs scored by an England hitter in Test history.
Joe Root’s century-making rampage in Tests in recent years has sparked speculation over whether the England batter may beat Sachin Tendulkar’s Test cricket record of 15921 runs.
However, when asked about the idea in a video released by England Cricket, he concentrated on scoring runs to help his team win matches rather than personal accomplishment.
“I just want to play, and try, and do my bit for the team and score the runs as many as I can and see where we get to. But there’s no better feeling I mean, it’s obviously amazing when you score 100, you’d be lying if you said it wasn’t, a big part of why you started playing the game and what you love about it.
But there’s no better feeling than winning a Test match. So the more, it can affect games, and the more you can add to the team, the greater it is. So, that will be the main focus. And hopefully, more days like this will come with that mentality,” Joe Root said in an England Cricket video.
1️⃣ Sachin Tendulkar – 15921 runs
⬆️ Joe Root – 12377 runsHalf an eye on Sachin’s record, Joe? 👀
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 31, 2024
In the last three years, Root has 17 hundreds and 4554 runs in 48 Tests, averaging 56.92. Following this, Root has six more Tests left this year to add to his century and run total. England will play three Test matches against Pakistan and three more against New Zealand.
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