NEW DELHI: Joe Root, the 33-year-old Yorkshireman, surpassed Alastair Cook‘s record England tally of 12,472 runs during the first Test match against Pakistan, where he scored an impressive 262 runs.
Cook, who recently retired from international cricket, was inducted into the ICC’s Hall of Fame and praised Root’s exceptional talent.
According to Cook, Root is a “generational talent” who has the potential to become the first batter in history to amass 16,000 Test runs.
Currently, Root occupies the fifth position on the all-time list of run-scorers, trailing behind retired legends such as Sachin Tendulkar, who holds the top spot with 15,921 runs, followed by Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis, and Rahul Dravid.
As Root continues to showcase his remarkable skills and consistency on the cricket field, the cricketing world eagerly anticipates his future achievements and the possibility of him etching his name in the record books as the most prolific run-scorer in Test cricket history.
“I think Joe Root could set a mark, certainly on the English side, which will be very hard to beat,” said Cook, who retired from Test cricket in 2018 with a century in his final innings.
“But you just never know. I hope he can get very close, if not be the first person to score 16,000 Test runs. It would be a great achievement but it’s a fair way off yet.”
Cook expressed his thoughts on the longevity of cricket records in the modern era. At 39 years old, he acknowledged the rapid evolution of the sport, particularly with the increasing popularity of limited-overs formats vying for space in the cricketing calendar alongside the traditional Test matches.
“Everyone looked to that Tendulkar record of 200 Test matches and I think quite a few people said, ‘Well, that’s never going to be done’.
“And you’ve got a fast bowler who has played 188 Test matches and taken more than 700 wickets (retired England quick James Anderson).
“So I know the game is changing, the landscape is changing. But something always crops up, someone always does.”