- Thursday, April 25, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
FORMER Australia captain Mark Taylor on Sunday (5) said on Sky Sports that ace England batter Joe Root has all the time to break legendary Indian batter Sachin Tendulkar’s tally of runs in the long format.
The 31-year-old right-hand batter slammed an unbeaten hundred against New Zealand at Lord’s to give his team a five-wicket victory and go 1-0 up in a three-match series. England made their life difficult by failing to capitalise in the first innings after the Kiwis were bowled out for 132 but a steady fourth-innings batting saw them chasing down a target of 277 with Roots hitting 115 not out.
ALSO READ: A little tear in the eye: Matty Potts about his dream Test debut
Root also became the latest batter to enter the 10,000-run club with the knock. He is overall the 14th batter to achieve the feat and the second Englishman after former opener Alastair Cook. Root though reached the milestone faster than Cook who took 219 innings compared to Root’s 218.
Stuart Broad says he is on good terms with Joe Root despite West Indies snub
Tendulkar tops the list of run-getters in Tests with 15,921 runs in 200 matches. After Sunday’s knock, Root has 10,099 in 118 outings.
“Root has minimum five years left in him, so I think Tendulkar’s record is very achievable,” Taylor told Sky Sports.
“Root is batting as well as I have ever seen him bat over the last 18 months to two years. He is in the prime of his career, so there is 15,000 runs-plus for him if he stays healthy,” he added.
Former England captain Nasser Hussain said: “He has always looked a world-class player. His technique is pretty much what it was, he has straight rhythm and fluency to his game. There is a whole heap of runs left in him.
“(Getting to 10,000 Test runs) is a special day and one he thoroughly deserves after everything he has been through the last couple of years as England captain – Covid, bubble life and losing Test matches.”
“He must have felt like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. Everything to do with English cricket was knocking at his door,” Hussain added.
