Former India wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik has weighed in on who he thinks can break the long-standing record of scoring the most runs in the longest format of cricket, currently held by the legendary Sachin Tendulkar who retired with a total of 15,921 runs.
Dinesh Karthik, who currently serves as the batting coach and mentor of the reigning Indian Premier League champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru, believes that England’s Test captain Joe Root is probably the one who can surpass Sachin Tendulkar in the red-ball run-scoring charts.
At the moment, Joe Root has 14,278 runs from 196 Test outings for the Three Lions and he stands only 1,643 runs behind Tendulkar. Dinesh Karthik feels that Root has a “good chance” of surpassing the former India captain since England play a lot of Test cricket. “Good chance. They play a lot of Test cricket in England,” Karthik said via Cricbuzz.
Having been reappointed as England’s Test captain only two months ago, Joe Root appears to have unlocked a new side to him as he is still able to score runs fluently and that’s why Dinesh Karthik is of the view that the Englishman is pretty much on course to bring up the rest of the 1,643 runs and break Sachin Tendulkar’s record.
“He still looks quite straight. He’s happily scoring runs every time he goes out to bat. I think it’s very possible for him,” Dinesh Karthik added.
Virat Kohli matching Sachin Tendulkar’s ODI record remains a tough proposition
When asked if Virat Kohli would be able to surpass or even match Sachin Tendulkar’s impeccable ODI record of 18,426 runs, Dinesh Karthik firmly claimed that it will be a very hard proposition even if he wishes to see the former India captain achieve that nearly unbeatable record. “Wow, I really wish he did, but I think it’s very hard,” Karthik concluded.
Kohli would need roughly 110 more innings to reach 101 international centuries. However, with the former India captain now playing only ODIs, the wait could be shorter.
He currently averages an ODI century once every 5.55 innings, but even at that rate, scoring his next 15 centuries would take around 83 innings. India, meanwhile, are expected to play only around 25-30 more ODIs before the 2027 World Cup concludes.
When will Virat Kohli play next?
After scoring a total of 168 runs in the recently concluded three-match ODI series against the West Indies, Virat Kohli is setting his sights on a very important tour of New Zealand where India are slated to play two Tests and five T20Is and one-days each.
Kohli will be determined to do well in what will be his last-ever trip to New Zealand. The 37-year-old will be in action next on Wednesday, November 4 when the 1st ODI takes place at the Eden Park in Auckland.