Cook Backs Root to Overtake Tendulkar as All-Time Leading Test Run-Scorer

Former England skipper Alastair Cook feels Joe Root might outshine the legendary Sachin Tendulkar and emerge as the biggest run-getter in Test cricket because the young man seems to have an insatiable hunger to succeed and has incredibly outstanding talent.

At the age of 33, Root has scored 12,716 Test runs and is short by 3,205 runs from the Indian legend (15,921). Root is sitting fifth in the list of run-getters so far, with Rahul Dravid (13,288), Jacques Kallis (13,289), and Ricky Ponting (13,378) and Tendulkar above him.

"I think Joe Root could set a mark, certainly on an English side, that'll be very hard to beat. But, you just never know," Cook was quoted as saying by the ICC. "I hope he can get very close, if not be the first person who scores 16,000 Test runs. It'd be a great achievement."

Root surpassed Cook as England's highest scorer in the longest format when the latter was playing the Multan Test against Pakistan early this month. Witnessing his compatriot surpass him to take England's most decorated batter title, the 39-year-old Cook was unable to put into words his emotions and phoned Root to congratulate him for his massive achievement.

"I watched the moment, then I rang him after the end of the play. I couldn't think of the right words to write in a text message," Cook said. "So, I thought I'd just ring him, see what he was up to, and make sure he had a beer in his hand, which I think he did."

Root's form over the last four years has been nothing short of extraordinary, scoring more than half of his total 35 Test centuries in that period and averaging close to 60. According to Cook, he is the best batter in the world and New Zealand's Kane Williamson is the only one who could compare with him.

"I think at this particular moment in time, I don't really see anyone playing as well as Joe Root. Of the so-called 'Big Four', in the last year or so, I think Williamson and him are probably the best form at the moment, though. They're all fantastic, fantastic players, all very different, actually, in their methods and ways of playing. But one thing, which kind of unites them is that hunger and desire to keep improving and churning out the runs," Cook said.

Root will look to continue to amass big scores and add to his tally during the third Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi, which will begin on Thursday.

Now, switching over to another topic, Cook has thrown his weight behind the 'Bazball' style of play by England in Test cricket.

"I think the game has certainly made a big jump forward in what is now deemed possible in Test cricket. I think the jump happened first probably in one day cricket. The fundamental change, certainly from the English point of view, is when Owen Morgan took the side forward in 2015. And obviously, the Ben Stokes era has changed the mentality of what was possible."