Root has already gone past Alastair Cook with most Test runs on English soil
Joe Root is the name trending in the world of cricket right now, having scored 143 on the opening day of the second Test against Sri Lanka on Thursday. By grabbing the century, he became the English batsman with the most Test tonnes, going past the record of Alastair Cook. Not to forget, he also became the English player with the most Test runs on English soil, toppling another Cook’s record.
However, Root’s name is trending because of how the world has put him into the race for Sachin’s Test run record—a whopping 15,921 runs that seems to be gettable for Root. Although it is tough to determine if Root will be able to do the impossible. After all, the likes of Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis, Rahul Dravid, Alastair Cook, and Kumar Sangakkara could not do the trick.
So how can Joe Root surpass Tendulkar’s record? Here are some hypothetical solutions we could think of.
The first way Joe Root could do the impossible is by scoring 66.3090909091 runs in his next 55 matches. So far, Joe Root has played 145 games, whereas Tendulkar played 200 matches to register the record of 15,921 runs. If Joe Root is to chase down Tendulkar’s record in 200 matches, he must score 66.3090909091 runs or above in the next 55 Test matches to surpass Tendulkar’s record.
Sachin Tendulkar’s Test career spanned from 1989 to 2013—a lengthy period of 24 years. In that era, the number of matches played in a year was considerably less compared to the number of matches played today. Therefore, Tendulkar took 24 years to appear in 200 Test matches.
Compared to the Master Blaster, Joe Root has played in 145 games, starting his career in 2012; within a period of 12 years. Given how fitness regimes have improved, and players are trying to spend more years on the circuit, is it possible for the 33-year-old Root to stick around for another 12 years in Test cricket till the age of 45? In recent times, Misbah-ul-Haq played his last Test game at the age of 42y 351d against the West Indies on May 10, 2017.
Another hypothetical way that we can think of for Joe Root to surpass Tendulkar’s record is by hitting another 36 centuries in Test cricket. Root is presently ranked tenth with 33 centuries to his name on the list of most international hundreds in a Test career. Root is 3,647 runs away from Tendulkar’s record; another 36 centuries could be one way to reach the milestone quickly. Is that a possibility? You never know!
