Former England captain Alastair Cook believes in-form compatriot Joe Root can get ‘very close’ to Sachin Tendulkar’s record 15,921 Test runs in the coming years.
Recently, Root overtook Cook as the highest run-scorer and century for England in the first Test between England and Pakistan in Multan earlier this month. With 12,716 runs, Root is the fifth highest run-scorer in Test cricket.
“I saw that moment, then I voiced it after the end of the play. I couldn’t think of the right words to write in the text message. So I thought I would ring him, see what he was doing, and make sure he had a beer in his hand, which I think he did,” added Cook, who has been inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame. had gone, said during one. Round-table interview organized by ICC.
“I think Joe Root can set a mark, certainly in an English side, that will be very difficult to beat. But you never know. I hope he can get very close if not the first to score 16,000 Test runs. It will be a huge achievement,” he added.
In the last four years, Root has racked up more than half of his 35 centuries in Test cricket during that time at an average close to 60.
The former England captain said Root is the best batsman in the world at the moment, matched perhaps only by New Zealand’s Kane Williamson, and is showing better form than both Steve Smith and Virat Kohli – the other members of the group who are highly regarded. All are known as the ‘Big Four’. ‘.
“I think at this exact moment in time, I find it hard to see anybody playing as well as Joe Root. Of the so-called ‘Big Four’, over the last year or so, I think Williamson and he are in the best form at the moment, Cook said.
“They’re all great, great players, all very different, really, in their ways and ways of playing. But the one thing that unites them is the hunger and desire to keep improving and keep churning out runs,” he added.
Cook, who retired from international cricket in 2018, believes that England cricket has changed a lot in both limited overs and Test cricket since Eoin Morgan and Ben Stokes took charge of the teams respectively.
“I think the game has definitely made a big leap in what is now considered possible in Test cricket. I think the jump came earlier in one-day cricket, perhaps. The fundamental change, certainly from an English perspective, is when Eoin Morgan took over the team in 2015. And obviously the Ben Stokes era changed the mindset of what was possible,” said the former opening batsman.