Joe Root overtakes Kumar Sangakkara to become sixth leading run scorer in Tests. (Picture Credit: AFP)
Root breaks Sangakkara’s record of 12,400 runs in Tests by scoring his 11th run for England in the second inning of the ongoing third Test against Sri Lanka at the Oval.
Star English batter Joe Root, who sits at the No. 1 position in the ICC Test batter’s ranking on Sunday (September 8), leapfrogged former Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara to become the sixth leading run scorer in Test cricket. The 33-year-old Root, who has been in red-hot form these days, went past Sangakkara’s tally of 12,400 runs by crossing the 11-run mark in the second innings of the ongoing third Test against Sri Lanka at the Oval.
Sangakkara finished his 15-year-long Test career with 12,400 runs in 134 matches for Sri Lanka, whereas Root now has 12,401 runs to his name in 267 innings of 146 Tests.
Sachin Tendulkar holds the record for scoring most runs in Tests. The Indian great finished his career with 15,921 runs in 200 matches. He is followed by Ricky Ponting (13,378 runs), South Africa’s Jacques Kallis (13,289 runs), India’s Rahul Dravid (13,288 runs), and England’s Alastair Cook (12,472 runs).
Most runs in Tests
- Sachin Tendulkar (India) – 15,921
- Ricky Ponting (Australia) – 13,378
- Jacques Kallis (South Africa) – 13,289
- Rahul Dravid (India) – 13,288
- Alastair Cook (England) – 12,472
- Joe Root (England) – 12,401*
- Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) – 12,400
After breaking Sangakkara’s record, Root would now like to create history and become the first batter in the world to score 5000 runs in World Test Championship history. The former England captain needs 28 more runs to achieve the feat.
If Root manages to score at least 83 runs in the second inning, he will break Cook’s record and become the leading run scorer for England in the five-day format of the game.
A century in the second innings of the ongoing Test will help Root take the No. 6 position in the list of batters with most centuries in Test cricket.
The record of scoring most 100s in Tests is also in the name of Tendulkar, who crossed the 100-run mark 51 times in his Test career. Kallis scored 45 centuries in 166 Tests for South Africa, and Ponting slammed 41 centuries in 161 red-ball matches for the Baggy Greens. Sangakkara has 38 Test centuries to his name, and Dravid is fifth on the list with 36 hundreds in 164 Tests for India.
Root broke Cook’s record of 33 Test centuries for England in the last Test played at Lord’s by scoring hundreds in both innings.