"Joe Root has minimum five years left in him, so I think Tendulkar's record is very achievable," says former Australia captain Mark Taylor; Root - whose unbeaten 115 guided England to victory over New Zealand at Lord's - "loves batting" and will carry on playing while he has "energy"
Sunday 12 June 2022 20:20, UK
Joe Root could surpass Sachin Tendulkar as the leading run scorer in Test history.
That's the view of former Australia captain Mark Taylor after Root became the 14th man - and second from England, after Sir Alastair Cook - to the milestone of 10,000 Test runs.
Root achieved the landmark at exactly the same age as Cook - 31 years, 157 days - during his match-clinching 115 not out for England in the first LV= Insurance Test against New Zealand at Lord's.
The ex-England skipper is now 5,906 shy of Indian great Tendulkar's tally of 15,921 Test runs.
Taylor told Sky Sports: "Root has minimum five years left in him, so I think Tendulkar's record is very achievable.
"Root is batting as well as I have ever seen him bat over the last 18 months to two years. He is in the prime of his career, so there is 15,000 runs-plus for him if he stays healthy."
Mel Jones feels that "maybe 16 or 17,000" Test runs is attainable for Root now he no longer has the pressures of captaincy to deal with.
Root has scored 2,192 runs across his last 21 Tests, stretching back to January 2021, with nine centuries at an average of 56.20.
Sky Sports' Nasser Hussain added of Root: "He has always looked a world-class player. His technique is pretty much what it was, he has straight rhythm and fluency to his game. There is a whole heap of runs left in him.
"[Getting to 10,000 Test runs] is a special day and one he thoroughly deserves after everything he has been through the last couple of years as England captain - Covid, bubble life and losing Test matches.
"He must have felt like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. Everything to do with English cricket was knocking at his door."
Root now hopes to help new skipper Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum revive a side that had won just one of 17 Tests prior to the five-wicket victory over New Zealand.
"It feels fantastic," said Root after his milestone day.
"[But] for us to have won this Test match after such a long time is the greatest feeling of all of it. It has been a tough road but hopefully we can use this as a step forward as a group.
‘Mr Dependable', Joe Root, stood up. Scoring a hundred and 10,000 runs - what a player and what a man.
"You look at the amount of times Ben has won us games under my captaincy and it is a great opportunity for me to give back to him in that respect.
"It's a great motivator. I will never be Ben Stokes, never be able to do the things he has done, but I will try to do it my own way.
"I love batting and I want to keep trying to bat for as long as I can, score as many runs as I can, help us win as many Test matches as I can. As long as I have the energy and drive, I will keep doing it.
"I love the group of players and I couldn't wish for a better person to be leading this team than Ben. I will do everything I can to help him win games and see us become a successful Test team again."
Watch day one of the second LV= Insurance Test between England and New Zealand, at Trent Bridge, live on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event from 10am on Friday.
