'Joe Root will overtake Sachin Tendulkar if…': Former England captain Michael Vaughan cites a key need

Joe Root is arguably the most in-form Test batsman in the world. The England star scored his 35th Test hundred in the first Test against Pakistan in Multan, extending his total as the active batsman with the most Test runs. Root is now just over 3,000 runs behind Indian icon Sachin Tendulkar's record Test run tally. Former England captain Michael Vaughan stated that he believes Root can break Sachin's record but only if he is able to fulfill a requirement.

“Joe’s love of the game means he won’t be like Alastair Cook. Cook retired six years ago, almost exactly the same age – 33 – as Joe is now. But I see Joe getting into his forties, like Anderson.”

“If he plays as long as I am sure he will, he will overtake Sachin Tendulkar and become the leading Test run-scorer,” Vaughan wrote in his column for The Telegraph.

Root is currently playing his 147th Test match while Tendulkar played a total of 200 in his 24-year career. Tendulkar managed 15,291 runs while Joe Root recently crossed the 12,500 run mark.

2024 has been a great year for Root, with the 33-year-old scoring against India, the West Indies, Sri Lanka and now Pakistan. He became the first batsman to score 1,000 Test runs in 2024.

Vaughan praised Root even more.

“Root is already a king in cricket and in my eyes there is no doubt that he has already become England's greatest batsman. No one has played the various forms of the game better than him and he has the runs to produce,” he wrote to Vaughan.

Root also follows Tendulkar in another list. He has completed 1,000 Test runs in five calendar years while only Tendulkar is ahead of him who has completed 1,000 Test runs in six calendar years.