Joe Root has 34 Test hundreds to his name© AFP
England great Joe Root became the all-time highest-scoring player for his country at the age of 33, as he registered his 34th hundred in the second Test against Sri Lanka. There's been a significant shift in the way England play cricket at present, with Brendon McCullum's Bazball bringing about a change that demands a more attacking style. Yet, Root has managed to continue his exemplary form, pile up more runs, and reach milestones that others can only dream of. Sitting on the 7th spot of top run-getters in Test cricket with 12,377 runs to his name, Root has a realistic chance of beating the numero uno Sachin Tendulkar in the list.
When asked about the fact that Root can go on to be the top-scoring player of all time in red-ball cricket, the England star said that his focus remains just to play and score runs for his team. He isn't thinking about anything beyond that.
"I just want to play, and try, and do my bit for the team and score the runs as many as I can and see where we get to. But there's no better feeling I mean, it's obviously amazing when, you score 100, you'd be lying if you said it wasn't, a big part of why you start playing the game and what you love about it," said Root in a video shared by England Cricket.
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 31, 2024Sachin Tendulkar - 15921 runs
Joe Root - 12377 runsHalf an eye on Sachin's record, Joe?
"But there's no better feeling than winning a Test match. So the more, it can affect games and the more you can, add to the team, the greater it is. So, that will be the main focus. And hopefully more days like this will come with that mentality," he added.
With a few years of cricket still left, and fitness on his side, Root has a realistic chance of surpassing Tendulkar to the top spot in the list of run-scorers in Test cricket.