UK (Commonwealth) _ Joe Root, who surpassed Sir Alastair Cook to become England‘s all-time top Test runscorer, stated that he still had “many more runs to get.” On the third day of the first Test match between Pakistan and Afghanistan in Multan, Root reached 71, surpassing Cook’s previous best score of 12,472.
With his undefeated 176 runs at bat throughout the day, the 33-year-old continued to impress, scoring his 35th Test century and leading England to 492-3 with just a 64-run deficit.
Root remarked, “I’m obviously proud, but I still feel like there’s plenty more to do.”
Despite Pakistan scoring 556 in their opening innings, England is well-positioned in the first game of the series thanks to Harry Brook’s 141 not out and Root’s relentless effort in the heat.
England has only lost a game after giving up more runs in the first inning 130 years ago against Australia in 1894.
“When I’m done, I’m sure I’ll look back on it and be really proud of it, but I think what stands out the most is just the way our team played today,” Root remarked.
It’s still possible for us to win the game, which is quite thrilling. I hope we can start tomorrow. Twelve years after making his England debut in India, Root is participating in his 147th Test match.
After surpassing Cook, Root is now fifth all-time among Test run scorers across all nations, trailing only the greatest players in history, Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis, Ricky Ponting, and Rahul Dravid. With 15,921, a little over 3,000 more than Root, Tendulkar sits at the top of the list. And even though Root is older than Cook—who retired in 2018 at the age of 33—Cook still thinks Root can surpass Tendulkar.
“I think Root will win,” Cook stated on Test Match Special. “For the next few years, I don’t see Root losing that drive and ability to keep pushing himself forward.” Cook mentioned that one challenge Root might face is winning the Ashes series in Australia during the winter of 2025–2026.
Although Root has made three prior trips to Australia, twice as captain, he has yet to reach 100 runs in the country and has lost all 14 of his Test matches there. “The Ashes series will be the only minor obstacle in his path—there is always something going on around the series,” Cook, the captain of Root’s inaugural Ashes tour—a 5-0 loss in 2013-14—said.
“It will take place in 14 months, and every Ashes series is met with stories about what goes wrong or right.” For the time being, Root has the chance to mold another historic England victory in Pakistan, where they won 3-0 two years prior.
On a very flat wicket, England looks likely to bat late into the fourth day in an attempt to take a commanding lead over the hosts while still having enough time to bowl out Pakistan once more.
Root stated, “We have to earn the right to decide what we want to do.” “This game still has a good amount of cricket left in it. Things can move quickly in the latter stages of the match.” We’re going to keep working hard to build on our excellent start.
In addition to playing for the England Twenty20 International team from 2012 to 2019, Root made his debut in Test matches in 2012 and in ODIs in 2013. He led England’s Test team from February 2017 to April 2022, and as captain, he set records for the most Test matches played (64), victories (27), and losses (26). The England and Wales Cricket Board included Root in the nation’s finest all-time Test XI in honor of England’s 1,000th Test in 2018.
He led the England squad that won the 2019 Cricket World Cup in runs scored. He was recognized as the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World for 2021 as well as the ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year. He became the second batsman for England to reach 10,000 Test runs in June 2022, and the fourteenth overall.
Originally an opener, Root is a right-handed batsman who has spent most of his time in the middle order for England. In Test cricket, he is England’s top run scorer, while in one-day internationals, he is second. He holds the record for the most centuries in both ODIs and Tests for England, with 35. He and James Anderson jointly own the record for the biggest Test tenth-wicket stand (198). Root occasionally bowls off spin as well.
