"It's some way off yet" - Joe Root on the prospect of overhauling Sachin Tendulkar's run tally in Tests
Prolific England run-getter Joe Root said he has no idea whether he would surpass Sachin Tendulkar's tally of most Test runs. The Yorkshire cricketer opined this after his marathon 262 in the opening Test against Pakistan at the Multan Cricket Stadium.
The Multan Test saw Root eclipse Sir Alastair Cook to become the leading run-getter for England in red-ball cricket. With 12,664 runs under his belt, the right-hander is the closest of the current era who can surpass Tendulkar, having retired with a tally of 15921 in a staggering 200 Tests.
When asked about the possibility of crossing Tendulkar, here's what the Englishman said after the Multan Test, as quoted by Sky Sports:
"I've no idea. It's some way off yet."
The 33-year-old struck his 35th Test century in Multan and shared a record-breaking 454-run stand with Harry Brook. England amassed a mammoth score of 823/7 to win by an innings and 47 runs despite conceding 556 in the first essay.
"In Covid, I spent that period off really looking at my game" - Joe Root
Root reflected that he spent a large amount of his time during COVID to look at the areas of improvements and revealed that it was some of it was a mental tweak.
"In Covid, I spent that period off really looking at my game, the areas where I felt there were little holes and weaknesses in it, and just really trying to have a really good understanding of my strengths and weaknesses. And then work with the strengths and try to tighten up the areas within my game that needed to just probably raise the level. Not all of that is technical, some of it was mental and maybe looking at the game slightly differently," Root added.
The former skipper also revealed getting a call from Cook after surpassing his England record.
"It was nice. He gave me a call and I had a good chat with him. As you'd imagine, with Cookie, he was very gracious and complimentary. It's pretty cool. We'll see if we can keep going," he continued.
With England holding a 1-0 lead, they will look to win the series when they meet Pakistan for the second Test in Multan, beginning on October 15.