How many runs does Joe Root need to break Sachin Tendulkar's record of being Test cricket's leading run-getter?
Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has made an interesting observation, stating that senior England batter Joe Root has a reasonable chance of overtaking Sachin Tendulkar's record for most runs in Test cricket. Speaking on The ICC Review show recently, the Aussie great opined that if Root keeps his hunger for big runs alive, there is every chance that he can surpass Tendulkar's Test tally.
In a sensational Test career, Tendulkar amassed 15921 runs in 200 Tests (329 innings) at an average of 53.78, with 51 hundreds and 68 half-centuries. As for Root, the 33-year-old is seventh on the list of all-time leading run-getters in Test cricket. He has 12027 runs from 143 matches at an average of 50.11, with 32 hundreds and 63 half-centuries.
Root needs to score 3,895 runs to go past Tendulkar's tally of Test runs. As of now, Ponting (13378), Jacques Kallis (13289), Rahul Dravid (13288), Sir Alastair Cook (12472), and Kumar Sangakkara (12400) stand between Tendulkar and Root on the list of leading run-getters in Test cricket. All five legends, however, have retired from the game.
Why Ricky Ponting believes Joe Root can go past Sachin Tendulkar's Test tally
Elaborating on why he feels Root is best suited to go past Tendulkar's tally of most runs in Test cricket. Ponting explained that the former England captain not only has age on his side but has also been getting better and better in recent years.
"He is 33 years of age…(more than) 3000 runs behind. It depends 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 1000 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)," Ponting said on the ICC Review show.
"If his hunger's still there, then there's every chance that he could do it," the 49-year-old Aussie legend added.
From his debut in December 2012 till the end of 2020, Root played 97 matches and scored 7823 runs at an average of 47.99, with 17 hundreds and a best of 254. From the start of 2021 to the present, the 33-year-old has featured in 46 Test matches and has totaled 4204 runs at a much better average of 54.59, with 15 centuries and a best of 228.