Sachin Tendulkar had dominated the cricketing world over a period of more than two decades and held records which seemed to be unsurpassed. Even when he retired, he remained very strong, until Virat Kohli finally made his mark. Kohli became the first player in the history of ODI cricket to score 50 centuries in the ODIs breaking the record of Tendulkar who had scored 49.
Joe Root closing in on Tendulkar’s Test record
Kohli, like other cricketers, bowed down with reverence to Tendulkar then proceeded. However, there is another name on the horizon and that is of Joe Root. Root is rapidly approaching the record of most Test runs and has 15,921 in 200 matches, compared to Tendulkar, who still has the record.
The England great already has accumulated 13,543 runs in the test format. That gives him 2,378 runs to go past the record of the Master Blaster. Root was once the more reserved member of the Fab Four but he has surpassed Steve Smith, Kane Williamson and even Kohli in the red-ball game.
Tendulkar reserved his opinion of Root. During an AMA session as brand ambassador, however, he finally gave his opinion on the rise of the Englishman. One of his fans inquired him about what he thought of Root when he first met him.
Tendulkar recalls Root’s debut in Nagpur
Responding to the question, Tendulkar said: “To have gone past 13000 runs is a remarkable achievement, and he’s still going strong. When I saw him for the first time in Nagpur in 2012 during his debut Test, I told my teammates that they were watching the future captain of England. What impressed me most was the way he was able to assess the wicket and how he rotated the strike. I knew at that very moment that he would be a big player.”
Those are words to indicate how early Tendulkar recognized the potential of Root. Root was a mature player at a young age, as even in his first matches, he was able to deal with difficult conditions. That vision has been turned into a reality because Root is still on the rise in Test cricket.
Root the constant in England’s changing team
Root has been lauded by Tendulkar before as well when India won at Lord s in the 2021 Pataudi Trophy. England imploded on the last day and Tendulkar observed that there was only one person to hold an innings together, Root.
He believed that the English team at the time was not of a standard of names like Alastair Cook, Michael Vaughan, Ian Bell, Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen. One thing has not changed, though: Joe Root has been at the centre of England batting.
Fast forward to 2025 and Root is still the fulcrum of the England Test team. His capacity to keep innings and score at a rapid pace has made him to be among the outstanding players of his era. Tendulkar was correct in his early assessment and Root is now in a position to surpass his epic mark.
Root’s form ahead of Ashes challenge
Root has just proved his genius in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy against India. He scored 537 runs with an average of 67.12 with three centuries to his credit, once again proving his claims as one of the greatest players of the game.
His attention is now on the Ashes later this year in Australia. Root has not yet been able to score a hundred in Australia in his long career. His current form is such that there is a good possibility that he will go one better.
Root is on a record breaking spree and he may soon become the next cricketer in the world to break another one of Tendulkar records-this time in Test cricket.
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