England’s veteran batter often breaks records as soon as he starts scoring runs in Test cricket. As England resume their World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 campaign against New Zealand at Lord’s on June 4, Root can achieve a couple of major feats in the longest format of the game.
Root is 75 runs away from completing 2,000 Test runs against New Zealand. Root is already the leading run-scorer against the Kiwis in Tests, six runs more than legendary Pakistan batter Javed Miandad. Currently, Root has 1,925 runs from 21 Tests against the BlackCaps at an average of 53.47, including six tons and nine fifties.
Root also needs 57 more runs to complete 14,000 runs in Test cricket. If he goes so, he will become the second batter in the world to achieve the feat after legendary India batter Sachin Tendulkar.
The 35-year-old is backed by many to break Tendulkar’s record for most Test runs (15,921 runs). Ahead of the first Test of the series against the Kiwis, Root needs 1,979 more runs to break the all-time record of cricket’s original format.
What Root said about chasing Tendulkar’s all-time Test record
Root has already accepted that it has become impossible for him to ignore that he will be asked about the possibility of breaking Tendulkar’s towering Test record. He talked about the former Indian batter’s longevity, scoring 100 centuries in international cricket.
“Well, I get asked it enough times now that I can’t really ignore it even if I try to,” Root had said in a conversation with The Athletic.
“It’s remarkable what Sachin Tendulkar achieved in the game. You have to believe me when I say that to even be in the conversation with him is enough for me. The guy made his Test debut before I was born and played in my Test debut! His longevity in itself is remarkable and then you look at the runs he got in Test cricket… but not only that, he’s got 49 ODI hundreds, too,” he added.
Root is also the leading run-scorer since the inception of WTC. From 74 Tests, he has 6,480 runs, nearly 2,000 more than the next batter in line, Australia’s Steve Smith.