JOE ROOT has broken Sir Alastair Cook’s record to become England’s highest ever Test run scorer.
The 33-year-old surpassed the record of 12,472 runs with yet another sumptuous innings in Pakistan.
He reached 50 for the 64th time in his Test career – while he also has 34 hundreds, one more than Cook.
Root, who went past Cook with a boundary, is now fifth on the all-time list as India legend Sachin Tendulkar leads the way with 15,921.
Australia‘s Ricky Ponting, South Africa’s Jacques Kallis and India’s Rahul Dravid are also ahead of Root.
The Yorkshireman gave a reserved reaction after eclipsing Cook as he remained focused on getting England back into the Test against Pakistan.
The hosts posted a huge 556 in their first innings, but Root and Ben Duckett steered England past 200-2 in reply.
At lunch, they were 232-2.
According to BBC Sport, Root broke the run record on the day of his brother Billy’s wedding.
And former record-holder Cook reacted to the landmark moment as he hailed the incredible achievement.
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He said: “Root would have known [he had broken the record]. You just do, don’t you? And what a shot to do it. Probably for Joe Root now, he’s got bigger fish to fry.
“I don’t know whether what his exact aim is, but he’s not lost that hunger and desire to keep on scoring run.
“Losing the captaincy and going back in to the ranks wasn’t an easy thing. It’s as if it’s taken him to an almost another level on consistency.
“That shot against Jasprit Bumrah in India, that infamous reverse sweep, he’s been averaging 75 or something since that moment.
“It’s extraordinary numbers for a player at that kind of level. It was kind of a reality check for him and I’ve never seen that hunger, determination or relentlessness in anyone’s batting really. He does that in an elegant way.”
