Joe Root has a “great chance” of surpassing Sachin Tendulkar as Test cricket’s all-time leading run-scorer, according to former England captain Michael Atherton.

Root on Wednesday became England’s all-time leading Test run-scorer as he displaced Sir Alastair Cook during a sublime unbeaten 176 during the first Test against Pakistan in Multan, which left him on a career total of 12,578 runs.

The 33-year-old is now the fifth-highest run-scorer in Test cricket, behind Sachin Tendulkar (15,921), Ricky Ponting (13,378), Jacques Kallis (13,289) and Rahul Dravid (13,288).

“He has a chance, obviously,” Sky Sports Cricket pundit Atherton said. “We worked out last summer that he will need four years to get there. He is 33 now, he will be 34 in December.

“Obviously players are going on a little bit longer than they did before. It is unusual to get better after 33, although Graham Gooch did.

“We have seen Jimmy Anderson play until 41 and he is a fast bowler. All the advances in nutrition and training allow you to go on a little bit longer.

“I think it comes down to desire. As long as that desire and love for the game is not undimmed, he has a great chance.”

Atherton’s fellow Sky Sports Cricket pundit and former England captain Nasser Hussain praised Root’s character as he sought to emphasise the magnitude of his achievement.

“He ticks every box. He’s got greatness, he loves the game, he’s a seriously nice lad, he’s one of ours and he’s chasing down…” Hussain said.

“We build up Kallis, Ponting, Dravid, rightly. We build up one of the greatest there’s ever been in Sachin Tendulkar, rightly, and one of our own is now chasing those four greats down.

“It is a pleasure to witness that lad bat and hopefully he’ll carry on playing for many years to come.”

Root: Many more runs to get

Root was unable to speak to the media at the close of play due to dehydration and exhaustion, but later reflected on reaching the milestone during an ECB interview at the team hotel.

“I’m tired, more than anything,” Root said. “It’s been a long day.

“Obviously, proud but still feel there’s plenty more left to do and many more runs to get.

“I’m sure I’ll look back at it at some point when I’m finished and be very proud of it.”

Asked whether the ongoing innings – which has given him a decent chance to trump his current Test best of 254 – will go down as one of the best of his career, Root offered a response which gave some insight into how he has established himself as one of the sport’s greats.

He said: “I think your best one’s always your next one almost,.

“You’ve got to keep staying hungry and wanting to find ways of keep contributing and getting better.”

‘Recalibration will carry Root forward’

Root has enjoyed perhaps the most consistent spell of his Test career since being replaced as captain by Ben Stokes in 2022.

The change in skipper coincided with England head coach Brendan McCullum taking charge of the side and implementing a more positive and aggressive playing style, that would come to be known as ‘Bazball’.

Despite a consistent flow of runs, there were concerns that Root was unnecessarily giving away his wicket too regularly as he attempted to fit in with the swashbuckling style of play.

However, Atherton believes that Root has now settled back into a more natural approach, which will stand him in good stead for the remainder of his career.

Atherton said: “Two years ago, maybe, because Bazball was a little new and everybody was trying to buy into it, if [Ben] Duckett and [Harry] Brook had scored at the rate they were scoring at this morning, Root may have felt the pressure to join in and show that he was prepared to do that as well.

“I think he’s moved past that stage now. The criticism around his reverse scoop in Rajkot last winter. He’s slightly just recalibrated his own game. He still scores really quickly. He’s got so many shots, we’ve seen him hit reverse sweeps and all kinds of beautiful shots.

“But he said, ‘no, I’m going to be me, I’m going to be Joe Root rather than perhaps something that I’m not.’ And that attitude I think will carry him forward through the latter stages of his career. He still looks very greedy for runs.”

The maths behind passing Tendulkar

Barring injury, Root appears highly likely to chase down Dravid, Kallis and Ponting, with the latter, who occupies second on the all-time list, just 800 runs clear of the England batter.

The bigger question is whether Root will be able to displace Tendulkar as the Test format’s leading all-time scorer, with the Indian great still 3,343 runs ahead of him.

While cricketer’s Test averages are measured by innings as opposed to match, for this purpose, it is worth considering that Root has scored 85.56 runs per Test match to this point.

If he were to continue to score at that rate, which is far from guaranteed, he would need about 40 more Test matches to eclipse Tendulkar’s record.

After he completes his innings in Multan on Thursday, Root has five more Test matches to come in 2025, with two further fixtures in Pakistan before England tour New Zealand.

It is fair to make a rough assumption that England will continue to play an average of around 10 Test matches per year for the remainder of his career.

That means that to break Tendulkar’s record, Root would need to remain healthy and prolific until the back end of 2028, at which point he’ll be approaching his 38th birthday.

Tendulkar retired from Test cricket at the age of 40, while Ponting ended his career as a 37-year-old.

Watch day four of the first Test between Pakistan and England in Multan, live on Sky Sports Cricket and Main Event from 5.50am on Thursday, ahead of play starting from 6am. Stream with NOW

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