Joe Root has moved up the all-time Test run-scorers’ list, overtaking Shivnarine Chanderpaul on the fourth day at Trent Bridge. Now, only seven players have scored more Test runs than Root. The big question is: where will he finish by the end of his career?
Root’s 32nd Test hundred was crucial for his team and pushed him past Chanderpaul on the Test run-scorers’ list. Next in his sights is Brian Lara, a legendary West Indies cricketer, who has 11,953 runs—just 18 more than Root.
After Lara, Root will aim for Kumar Sangakkara (12,400 runs) and Sir Alastair Cook (12,472 runs). Given England’s busy schedule and Root’s excellent fitness, it’s likely he’ll surpass both left-handers this year. Root’s career average is about 50 runs per dismissal, and with England scheduled to play 10 more Tests in 2024, only an injury or a significant loss of form could stop him from breaking into the top five.
Above Cook on the list are Ricky Ponting (13,378 runs), Jacques Kallis (13,289 runs), and Rahul Dravid (13,288 runs). These players are around 800 to 1,000 runs ahead of Cook. In 2025, England will play six home Tests—one against Zimbabwe at Lord’s and five against India—before touring Australia. This means Root has the opportunity to play 21 more Tests between now and the end of the 2025/26 Ashes.
If Root maintains his current form, he could surpass Dravid, Kallis, and Ponting by the fifth Test of the 2025/26 Ashes. By then, Root will have just turned 35 and will be around 2,500 runs behind Sachin Tendulkar, who tops the list.
Root has averaged about 1,000 Test runs per year throughout his career. To have a good chance of overtaking Tendulkar, Root will likely need to play beyond his 37th birthday.
In modern cricket, it is rare for English batters to continue playing Test cricket past 36. Since 2000, only Alec Stewart has played more than a few Tests after turning 36. This is partly due to England’s demanding international schedule. However, as James Anderson has shown by playing until he was 41, with careful management, almost anything is possible.
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