Joe Root has overtaken Sir Alastair Cook to become England’s highest Test run-scorer of all time.

Root eclipsed Cook’s tally of 12,472 Test runs when he hit an elegant straight drive back past Aamer Jamal to reach 71 against Pakistan on day three of the first Test in Multan.

The 33-year-old, who is playing in his 147th Test, has done it in 14 Tests fewer than Cook, and now sits fifth on the all-time list.

He made his Test debut against India in Nagpur in 2012 and since then has hit 34 Test centuries, with a top score of 254 against Pakistan.

Sheffield-born Root, who captained England in a record 64 Tests, is now only behind India’s Rahul Dravid, South Africa’s Jacques Kallis, Australia’s Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar, also of India.

The legendary Tendulkar, who played in 200 Tests, tops the list with 15,921 runs, but Root could eclipse that mark if he continues in the same vein of form over the next few years.

The Yorkshire right-hander is in some of the best form of his career – averaging 61 since the beginning of 2023.