On the third day of England’s opening Take a look at in Pakistan, Joe Root surpassed Alastair Cook dinner on the all-time Take a look at run-scorers listing, now solely trailing three gamers in complete. The query stays: how excessive will he climb earlier than retiring?
Root’s achievement on Wednesday (9 October) not solely elevated him previous Cook dinner but additionally established him as England’s main Take a look at run-scorer in historical past.
After Pakistan declared with a hefty rating of 556, England confronted a major problem to reclaim management of the match.Root’s essential partnerships with Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett have been instrumental in serving to England probably keep away from the follow-on. He broke Cook dinner’s file (12,472 runs) when he scored his 71st run of the innings, a 4 that introduced his complete to 12,473 runs.
Subsequent in Root’s sights is Rahul Dravid, who has accrued 13,288 runs, only one run shy of Jacques Kallis’s 13,289. If Root can shut the roughly 800-run hole to Dravid, he’ll concurrently surpass Kallis, inserting him third on the all-time listing.
With two Exams in Pakistan, three in New Zealand, and a five-Take a look at house sequence in opposition to India, plus a one-off Take a look at in opposition to Zimbabwe, Root might leapfrog two positions by the top of the 2025 house summer time, assuming his present scoring tempo continues.
If he falls quick, he’s anticipated to beat each Dravid and Kallis in the course of the 2025/26 Ashes sequence.
Following Kallis on the listing is Ricky Ponting, who’s 89 runs adrift (13,378 runs). Root ought to have the chance to surpass Ponting in the course of the 2025/26 Ashes, as he has 16 Exams scheduled between now and the top of that sequence to shut the practically 900-run hole.
Root’s profession common sits at round 50 runs, however he has carried out notably higher than that during the last two years. If he continues to attain at his present fee, he ought to cross Ponting by the top of the Ashes until accidents or there is a vital decline in type.
Can Root go previous Sachin?
Sachin Tendulkar’s all-time file (15,921 runs) sits a frightening 2,543 runs above Ponting. Closing this hole will likely be a formidable problem, particularly since Root will flip 35 in the course of the Ashes subsequent 12 months.
After the remaining 16 Exams, the ICC Future Excursions Programme has England set for 3 Exams in Sri Lanka, adopted by a 2026 house summer time that includes three Exams in opposition to each New Zealand and Pakistan. England may even play three away Exams in South Africa in 2026, leading to 9 extra Exams after the Ashes by the top of that 12 months.
Based mostly on his common of roughly 90 runs per Take a look at over the previous 4 years, Root would wish to take part in roughly 40 extra matches to surpass Tendulkar’s file. With England more likely to play over 12 Exams a 12 months, Root would have round 28 matches scheduled between now and the top of 2026.
This trajectory suggests he would wish to proceed taking part in till not less than the top of 2027, when he could be 37, to have a shot at Tendulkar’s file.
It’s value noting that within the trendy period, it’s fairly uncommon for English batters to compete in Take a look at cricket past their thirty sixth birthday.
In actual fact, this century, solely Alec Stewart has performed quite a lot of Exams for England after turning 36. Whereas the demanding nature of England’s worldwide cricket schedule contributes to this rarity, as evidenced by James Anderson’s profitable profession extending to age 41, it reveals that with cautious planning, persevering with on the high degree is certainly attainable.
Most runs in Take a look at cricket:
Sachin Tendulkar – 15,921 runs
Ricky Ponting – 13,378 runs
Jacques Kallis – 13,289 runs
Rahul Dravid – 13,288 runs
Joe Root – 12,500* runs (on the time of writing)
