'Don't Think He's Overthinking...,' Former England Star On Joe Root's Comparison With Sachin Tendulkar
England's Joe Root (ECB official website)
Former England cricketer, Ian Bell feels that his ex-teammate Joe Root might not be able to break Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 15,921 Test runs however, he would go down as England's greatest batter in Tests.
Root, who is 3,519 runs away from breaking Tendulkar’s record, went past Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara recently to grab the sixth spot in the list of highest run-getters in the longest format.
Ian, while speaking to PTI exclusively said, heaped praises on Joe Root and compared him to legendary Indian batter Sachin Tendulkar.
“He's played incredibly well in the last 12 months. I don't think he's overthinking too much what's ahead. He's just sort of living in the moment as we are,” Bell told PTI.
“To think that he can even get close to someone like Sachin, a real great of the game, someone that we've all admired growing up, as a hero to not just people and fans in India, but around the world. To think that Joe could get close is an amazing achievement on his behalf. He'll go down as England's greatest batsman. There's no doubt whether he does get to Sachin or not,” said the 42-year-old who played as many as 118 Tests for England.
Root Goes Past Cook, Equals Gavaskar And Lara
The 33-year old England batter, went past his former teammate Sir Alastair Cook, to register the most hundreds for England in Test cricket, who finished his career with 33 tons.
Root, slammed his 34th Test century, against the Sri Lankans at Lord's.He also equalled batting stalwarts Sunil Gavaskar, Brian Lara, Younis Khan, and Mahela Jayawardene.
Root Slams Most Test Centuries At Lord’s
In a brilliant achievement, Root entered the history books by surpassing Michael Vaughan as he registered seven Test centuries and as many half-centuries at Lord’s in 22 matches (40 innings). Interestingly, he slammed two centuries against Sri Lanka that helped him make this unique record.
At Lord's Cricket Ground, Root slammed his highest score of 200* against Sri Lanka back in June 2014.