“Could overtake Sachin Tendulkar…”: Michael Vaughan on Joe Root

The former England captain believes that Root can go on to break Sachin's record for most runs scored by a batsman in the history of test cricket

Former England captain Michael Vaughan has heavily praised Joe Root for being a special batsman and has predicted that he could overtake Sachin Tendulkar’s record for most runs by a batsman in the history of Test cricket.

This claim came after Root smashed his 32nd Test hundred on Sunday, during England’s 241-run win over the West Indies which took him to a total of 11,940 runs in the longest format of the game. He also became the 8th highest run-scorer in the format surpassing the likes of Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene (11,814 runs) and West Indies’ Shivnarine Chanderpaul (11,867 runs).

“Joe Root will become England’s leading run-scorer in the next few months and is so special that he really could overtake Sachin Tendulkar eventually. As the rock, Root is obviously key to that, and I love that he kept the reverse-scoop in the locker until he was past 100 and England’s lead was massive,” wrote Vaughan in a column for The Telegraph.

“Against an attack like the West Indies in these conditions, you expect him to get a century. He missed out in the first innings but was so determined to put it right in the second. He was never going to make the same mistakes,” Vaughan further stated.