Former England spinner Monty Panesar has backed Joe Root to break Sachin Tendulkar’s record for most Test runs. Root has been on a prolific run in recent times as he’s already become the second-highest run scorer in Tests.
He went past Ricky Ponting’s tally of 13,378 runs during the fourth Test against India at Old Trafford in Manchester.
from Tendulkar (15,921 runs), who sits on the top spot with most runs. Hence, he’s well on course to break his record and become the highest run scorer in Tests. Recently, Monty Panesar shared his thoughts on the prospect of Root breaking Tendulkar’s record and backed the England star to surpass the Indian legend.
“He’ll break it, and he’ll go past it. I think he’ll end up scoring 18,000 test runs. Because he’s only 34, right? He’s 34, he’s got another 6 years. In 6 years, he’ll probably score another 4,000-5,000 Test runs. So, Tendulkar played until 40, so he’ll probably end up playing until 40. He’ll break that, and he’ll go past it. I think he’ll end up scoring 18,000 test runs,” Panesar told Hindustan Times.
being the highest run scorer of the format in the last five years. The right-handed batter has accumulated 5720 runs from 61 matches (111 innings) at an average of 56.63 with 22 hundreds and 17 fifties. He’s also the leading run scorer in the World Test Championship (WTC) history with 6080 runs from 69 matches (126 innings) at an average 52.86 with 21 hundreds and 22 fifties.
The 34-year-old has improved his conversion rate in the last five years as he 17 hundreds and 59 fifties till 2020 but now has 49 centuries and 66 fifties. With the Ashes 2025-26 scheduled later this year in November, Root will have his toughest test as he’s yet to score a century in Australia.