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Joe Root becomes England's all-time leading run-scorer across formats

England Test captain Joe Root
England Test captain Joe Root

England Test captain Joe Root went past former skipper Alastair Cook to become the all-time leading run-scorer for the Three Lions across formats. Joe Root achieved the feat in the first of the five-match Test series against India.

The 30-year-old needed 22 runs in this match to surpass Cook, and he got there in the 33rd over of England's first innings with a beautiful cover drive off the last ball of Mohammed Siraj's over.

Joe Root has emerged as England's leading run-scorer in just 366 innings and is the only English player apart from Cook to score over 15,000 international runs.

Alastair Cook scored 15,737 runs in 387 innings, while Kevin Pietersen is third on the list with 13,779 runs in 340 innings. Ian Bell and Graham Gooch are the next two in the top five, with 13,331 runs in 370 innings and 13,190 runs in 339 innings, respectively.

Highest run-scorers for England across formats

Joe Root - 15,739* runs (366 innings)

Alastair Cook - 15,737 runs (387 innings)

Kevin Pietersen - 13,779 runs (340 innings)

Ian Bell - 13,331 runs (370 innings)

Graham Gooch - 13,190 runs (339 innings)

Joe Root's numbers in international cricket

Ever since he's made his debut, Joe Root has been one of England's best batters. The Yorkshire-born cricketer has registered 36 centuries for England in Tests, ODIs, and T20Is combined and has an average of 48.65.

Cook, who is second on the list, has an average of 42.88. David Gower, Andrew Strauss, Marcus Trescothick, and Eoin Morgan complete the list of top 10 run-getters for England across formats.

Joe Root is the third-highest run-scorer for England in Test cricket (8,737* runs), only behind the likes of Cook (12,472 runs) and Gooch (8,900 runs).

He'd be hopeful of going past Graham Gooch's tally in the ongoing series against India to emerge as England's second-highest run-scorer in the longest format of the game.

In world cricket, Joe Root is 29th on the list of highest run-scorers across formats. With 34,357 runs, Sachin Tendulkar leads the charts, followed by Kumar Sangakkara (28,016), Ricky Ponting (27,483), Mahela Jayawardene (25,957), and Jacques Kallis (25,534).

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