Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting reckoned that Joe Root may surpass batting legend Sachin Tendulkar‘s tally of runs in Test cricket, supplied the England batting mainstay stays ‘hungry’ and retains scoring at a constant price for the subsequent 4 years. Root turned solely the seventh batter within the historical past of the traditional format to cross the 12,000-run mark – a feat he achieved lately through the Edgbaston Test towards the West Indies. With 12,027 runs in 143 Tests at 50.11 with 32 centuries and 63 fifties up to now, Root can be total the seventh highest run-scorer in Tests and will overtake Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara (12,400 runs) and his former teammate Alastair Cook (12,472) quickly.
Tendulkar leads the desk with 15921 runs from 200 Tests.
Ponting, who sits second behind Tendulkar within the record with 13,378 runs from 168 Tests, informed The ICC Review, “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),” stated the legendary Australian.
Ponting stated Root might want to stay hungry for runs and the England batter has acquired the age on his facet to purpose for the Test file.
“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 stated.
“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 stated.
Ponting stated Root appeared to have overcome his incapability to transform half-centuries into massive scores.
“Four or five years ago, he was making a lot of 50s and struggling to go on and make hundreds and he’s gone the other way recently,” Ponting stated.
“Almost every time he gets to 50 now, he goes on and makes a big hundred. So that’s been the real turnaround for him,” he added.
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