LONDON (Kashmir English): England’s Joe Root jumped to third place on the all-time list of highest Test run-scorers on Friday, surpassing legends Rahul Dravid and Jacques Kallis during the fourth Rothesay Test against India at Old Trafford.
The 34-year-old Yorkshireman crossed Dravid’s total of 13,288 runs as he reached 30 on the morning of the third day of the Manchester Test.
Two deliveries later, he edged past Kallis’ tally of 13,289 to become the third-highest scorer in Test history, behind only Ricky Ponting of Australia and Sachin Tendulkar of India.
Root is already England’s leading run-scorer in Test and one-day international cricket. He now sits on 13,259 career Test runs from 156 matches. His Test average currently stands at 50.80, with 37 centuries and 66 fifties.
Root would need to score 120 more runs to pass Ponting’s total of 13,378 runs and claim the second position. Tendulkar’s long-standing world record of 15,921, however, remains a distant target.
Root eclipsed Sir Alastair Cook’s England Test record of 12,472 runs in December last year during the Pakistan tour. He also became England’s all-time top scorer in one-day internationals last month, overtaking former captain Eoin Morgan.
Updated top five Test run-scorers
Sachin Tendulkar (15,921)
Ricky Ponting (13,378)
Joe Root (13,322 and counting)
Jacques Kallis (13,289)
Rahul Dravid (13,288)
The England’s batsman made his Test debut in 2012 and has been a key figure of England’s batting order ever since. He also captained the side from 2017 to 2022.
