Ricky Ponting, the Australian legend, believes England’s Joe Root has the ability to break his and Sachin Tendulkar’s all-time Test run records. Root, who just reached 12,000 runs, is now the seventh-highest run-scorer in Test cricket and is mighty close to two of the sport’s best batters.
Joe Root is less than 4000 runs away from Sachin’s test record
At 33 years old, Root is only 1,351 runs shy of Ponting’s 13,378 and fewer than 4,000 runs shy of Tendulkar’s 15,921, the highest total in Test cricket history. With England poised to face Sri Lanka in an ICC World Test Championship series later this month, Root has a chance to get closer to these incredible achievements.
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Ponting was speaking at the latest episode of The ICC Review
Speaking on the most recent episode of The ICC Review, Ponting lauded Root’s batting ability and underlined that, should he maintain his current form, the Englishman may very well achieve historically high benchmarks. “I think he could do that,” Ponting said in response to a question about whether Root could surpass Tendulkar’s incredible run total.
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“He is 33 years of age (more than) 3,000 runs behind. It depends on how many Test matches they play, but if they’re playing 10 to 14 Test matches a year, and if you’re scoring 800 to 1,000 runs a year, then that sort of says he’s only three or four years off getting there. So that’ll take him to 37 (years of age). If his hunger’s still there, then there’s every chance that he could do it.”
Root notched up his 32nd Test century against WI in Nottingham
Root’s amazing form has been clear, with the right-hander recently scoring his 32nd Test century against the West Indies at Nottingham. This was his fourth century since the beginning of last year, demonstrating his ability to routinely convert strong starts into big scores.
