Joe Root became the first English cricketer to score 23,000 international runs, and also went past Sachin Tendulkar in an elite list.
Star England batter Joe Root entered yet another record book during their first ODI clash against Sri Lanka in Durham on Tuesday. Root became the second-quickest batter in history to score 23,000 runs in international cricket. He reached the milestone in his 521st international innings. The 35-year-old went past legendary India batter Sachin Tendulkar in the elite list, who did it in 522 innings. Virat Kohli is the quickest to achieve the feat, having done it in 490 innings.
Needing just three runs to reach the milestone, Root got there with a classy boundary with the flick of the wrists.
Root became the eighth batter overall and the first Englishman to reach 23,000 international runs. Tendulkar, Kohli and Rahul Dravid from India, Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, Australia’s Ricky Ponting and South Africa’s Jacques Kallis are the others to do so.
Root has already hunted down Tendulkar in several record books, particularly in Test cricket. He recently broke the Indian legend’s record of the most half-centuries in Test cricket.
The attention of the cricket world is primarily on Root potentially breaking Tendulkar’s record for the most all-time Test runs. Currently, Root (14,278) stands 1,643 runs behind Tendulkar (15,921) in the list.
About to turn 36 in December this year, Root has still shown no signs of slowing down. He is also only 31 Tests behind Tendulkar’s record for the most Test matches played (200).
While Root’s greatness in Test cricket is well-recognized, his excellent ODI career has often gone under the radar. In fact, Root presently averages more in ODI cricket than in Tests.
