England’s Test skipper Joe Root has become the highest run-scorer for England in international cricket after surpassing the former English skipper Alastair Cook. Root achieved this milestone during his knock of 64 on Day 1 of the first match out of the five-match Test series against India on Wednesday at Trent Bridge, Nottingham.
The 30-year-old cricketer needed 22 runs to get past Cook and he got there in the first innings of the match in the 33rd over with a boundary in the cover region in Mohammed Shami’s over.
Root just took 366 innings to become the leading run-scorer for England and the right-handed batsman is the only second English player apart from Cook to gather 15,000 runs in international cricket.
Cook conjured 15,737 runs in 387 innings, followed by Kevin Pietersen’s 13779 runs in 340 innings. Ian Bell and Graham Gooch are the next two batsmen in the top five, with 13331 runs in 370 innings and 13190 runs in 339 innings, respectively.
Root made his Test debut against India in 2012 at the Vidharbha Cricket Association Stadium, since then he has been the backbone of the English batting line-up in the longest format. Root played 106 Test matches so far in his career out of which he scored 8778 runs with 20 centuries and 50 half-centuries to his name along with an average of 48.50. In the 50-over format, played 152 matches and scored 6109 runs with 16 centuries and 35 half-centuries along with an average of 51.34. In the shortest format, Root only played 32 matches and scored 893 runs at an average of 35.72.
The Yorkshire-born cricketer is the third-highest run-scorer in the longest format after Cook (12,472) and Gooch (8.900). Root has a chance to get past the score of Gooch in the ongoing series against India.