New Delhi: Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting is of the opinion that star England batter Joe Root can become the highest run-getter in the Test format. With 12,027 runs in 143 Tests at an average of 50.11, Root currently sits on the seventh spot in the list of most runs scored by batters in Tests.
Legendary Indian batter Sachin Tendulkar has been occupying the pole position for more than a decade, having made 15,921 runs in 200 Test matches from 1989 to 2013. Ponting, who has the second most Test runs (13,378) in the record books, believes the 33-year-old Root can break Tendulkar’s long-standing record in three or four years from now.
“He (Root) could potentially do that. He is 33 years of age…(more than) 3000 runs behind. It depends how many Test matches they play, but if they’re playing 10 to 14 Test matches a year and if you’re scoring 800 to 1,000 runs a year, then that sort of says he’s only three or four years off getting there. So that’ll take him to 37 (years of age),” Ponting said on The ICC review.
Ponting says Root’s hunger will be key in breaking Tendulkar’s record
Root was the leading run-scorer in Tests for the calendar year 2021 with a staggering sum of 1708 runs in 15 Test matches. He was the only batter to score more than 1000 Test runs that year. Ponting noted that if the former England skipper keeps delivering in the same fashion with 1000 runs every year than he can go past Tendulkar by 2028.
“If his hunger’s still there, then there’s every chance that he could do it. He is someone that in the last couple of years has got better and better,” Ponting said.
“There’s always talk around batters reaching their prime in their early 30s and he’s certainly done that. It’s been his conversion rates being the big thing,” he added.
Root will be in action for England’s upcoming three-match Test series against Sri Lanka at home. The first Test match between the two sides starts on August 21 at Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester.
Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting is of the opinion that star England batter Joe Root can become the highest run-getter in the Test format. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
