Former England captain Alastair Cook is hopeful that Joe Root can beat the legend Sachin Tendulkar to become the leading run-scorer in Test cricket history. During the series against Pakistan in Multan, Cook’s former compatriot Root overtook him to become England’s leading scorer in Test cricket.
The 39-year-old struggled to put into words how he felt after seeing his friend overtake him to become England’s most decorated batsman and ended up calling Root to congratulate him on his great achievement.
“I watched the moment and then called him after the game,” Cook told a roundtable interview hosted by the ICC. “I couldn’t think of the right words to put in the text message. So I thought I’d call him and see what he was doing and make sure he had a beer in his hand, which I think he did,” he said. added.
The 33-year-old currently has a whopping 12,716 runs and is just 3,206 away from overtaking India’s ‘God of Cricket’ to become the most decorated batsman in Test history. With every Test passed, the cricketing world is starting to realize the responsibility of seeing records once thought untouchable tumble.
Before he aims to break Sachin’s record, Root still has six players to surpass before changing the course of history. Cook remains hopeful that Root will surpass the Master Blaster’s record in the remainder of his career.
“I think Joe Root can set a record, certainly in England, which will be difficult to beat. But you never know. I hope he can be very close, if not the first to score 16,000 in Tests It will be a great achievement for people,” Cook added.
Root will continue his bid to get closer to the elusive feat in the third Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi starting on Thursday.
