Former England cricketer Geoffrey Boycott has said that current skipper Joe Root can surpass Sachin Tendulkar’s record for most number of runs in Test cricket. The English captain has shown his class in the recently concluded two-match Test series against Sri Lanka away from home where he scored a couple of tons on the trot including a double-century.
"Forget just scoring more Test runs for England than David Gower, Kevin Pietersen and myself. Joe Root has the potential to play 200 Tests and score more runs than even Sachin Tendulkar," Boycott wrote in a column for The Telegraph.
Tendulkar holds the record for the most number of Test runs and has amassed 15921 runs in 200 matches for India at an average of 53.8 including 51 centuries to his name. Root on the other side has been a part of 99 matches for England and has scored 8249 runs.
"Root is only 30. He has played 99 Tests and scored 8249 runs already. As long as he does not suffer serious injury there is no reason why he cannot beat Tendulkar’s all-time record of 15,921," Boycott added.
Boycott though lauded India skipper Virat Kohli, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson and former Australia skipper Steve Smith and went on to suggest that these players can also notch up more runs in the longer format.
"His contemporaries, such as Virat Kohli, Steve Smith and Kane Williamson, are wonderful players as well who could also score that many runs. We should enjoy Root and only judge him alongside those guys, not great names of the past because every player is a product of their environment," wrote Boycott.
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