Just 2,513 runs stand between Joe Root and immortality. That’s the number that will see England’s grand master overtake India’s Little Master, Sachin Tendulkar, to be crowned the most prolific Test batter of all time.
It says much about Root that this fourth Test against India is not alone in being a match that has been completely overshadowed by his pursuit of history.
In the past 11 months alone, the 34-year-old has become England’s leading century-maker in Tests and leading run-scorer in both Test and one-day international cricket.
Sir Alastair Cook and Eoin Morgan are the two big beasts of English cricket he wrestled those records from.
"One more to go" Joe Root overtakes Ricky Ponting to become the second-highest run-scorer in Test cricket pic.twitter.com/stzTnTvCGk
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 25, 2025In Manchester, it was his pursuit of Tendulkar, who remains a demi-god in India 12 years after his retirement, that dominated a third day that saw England, courtesy of Root’s majestic 150, take complete control of this match and the series.
The Yorkshireman had started the day fifth on the all-time list of Test runscorers. But as he found his rhythm to lay the foundations for his country’s mammoth first-innings total, he moved past another India legend in Rahul Dravid and Jacques Kallis, South Africa’s greatest all-rounder, to leave just Ricky Ponting and Tendulkar ahead of him.
By the time he reached his 38th Test century in the second hour of the afternoon session, Root was just 17 runs away from overtaking Ponting, who coincidentally was watching all this unfold from his position in the Sky Sports commentary box.
One push down to backward point off the bowling of debutant Anshul Kamboj was all it took for Root to notch his 13,379th Test run and move past the former Australia captain.
Now only Tendulkar stands ahead of him. And Ponting believes it is only a matter of time before Root usurps the man widely regarded as the greatest batter in the history of the game.
“Congratulations Joe Root,” he said on commentary. “Magnificent. Second on the table. Just the one more to go now.
Highest Test run-scorers
Sachin Tendulkar (1989-2013) – Matches: 200, Innings: 329, Runs: 15,921
Joe Root (2012-2025) – Matches: 157, Innings: 286, Runs: 13,409
Ricky Ponting (1995-2012) – Matches: 168, Innings: 287, Runs: 13,378
Jacques Kallis (1995-2013) – Matches: 166, Innings: 280, Runs: 13,289
Rahul Dravid (1996-2012) – Matches: 164, Innings: 286, Runs: 13,288
Alastair Cook (2006-2018) – Matches: 161, Innings: 291, Runs: 12,472
Kumar Sangakkara (2000-2015) – Matches: 134, Innings: 233, Runs: 12,400
Brian Lara (1990-2006) – Matches: 131, Innings: 232, Runs: 11,953
“About two-and-a half thousand runs behind, but the way his career’s gone over the last four or five years there’s absolutely no reason why he can’t do it.”
Ben Stokes, who gave everybody a scare when he retired hurt on 66 during the evening session, had already given his verdict on Root before the match.
“I don’t need to say anything else except he’s just the absolute GOAT,” said England’s captain, who later re-emerged to finish this third day unbeaten on 77 after overcoming cramp.
Root has refocussed ruthlessly since playing the reverse ramp to Jasprit Bumrah in Rajkot back in February of last year that sparked an avalanche of criticism and a catastrophic 434-run defeat for his team when the series had been tied at 1-1 heading into that third Test.
The shot, Root’s party piece in the early Bazball years, saw England collapse from 224 for two to 319 all out in reply to India’s first-innings 445.
Since then, he has dialled back on the aggression and just batted the way he always has, with his strike-rate going down from 69.92 to 62.02 and his Bazball average climbing from 52.63 to 66.06.
The moment Ricky Ponting called Joe Root eclipsing his Test match runs tally in the Old Trafford commentary box! pic.twitter.com/u4NPNsD8m1
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 25, 2025There will be some – I’m looking at you Darren Lehmann – who will argue Root cannot be regarded amongst the game’s greats because he has not yet scored a Test century in Australia.
The good news is there’s an Ashes tour this winter, where Root will have five Tests to remove that anomaly from his record.
Given his form since the 2023 home Ashes – 1,993 runs at 56.94 and eight centuries – it seems almost inevitable that he will do it too.
The same goes for his pursuit of Tendulkar. Root’s numbers over the past few years are not just exceptional, they are almost unparalleled in the modern game.
Since turning 30 in December 2020, he has scored 21 Test hundreds, including three doubles, the most recent against Pakistan in Multan last October when he moved past Cook on the all-time list.
For context, that’s as many centuries as 2010-11 Ashes-winning captain Andrew Strauss scored in his 100 Tests and more than fellow England greats Graham Gooch, David Gower, Ken Barrington and Len Hutton managed in their entire careers.
Root’s masterful innings featured 14 4s (Photo: Getty)Nothing can be guaranteed in sports, with injury and form so fickle.
But if Root maintains the trajectory he has been on over the past couple of years, he would need around 25 to 30 Tests to overtake Tendulkar. That would take him into 2028, when he would be 37.
The only roadblock other than injury or a complete loss of form may be the 2027 home Ashes, perhaps a tempting time for Root to call time on a Test career that began against India at Nagpur back in December 2012.
Yet if the prospect of catching Sachin is tantalisingly close, he might just be persuaded to carry on.
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