“He’ll Score 18,000 Runs!” – Ex-Cricketer Claims Joe Root Will Surpass Sachin Tendulkar

Former England spinner Monty Panesar has made a bold prediction about Joe Root’s red-ball legacy, stating that the England batting mainstay will go past Sachin Tendulkar’s all-time Test run record and end his career with 18,000 runs.

Root, 34, recently became the second-highest run-scorer in Test cricket history, surpassing Australia’s Ricky Ponting (13,378 runs) during the fourth Test against India at Old Trafford. He currently sits at 13,543 runs and is just 2,378 short of eclipsing Tendulkar’s world record tally of 15,921 runs.

“He will break it and go past Sachin Tendulkar. Joe Root will end up scoring 18,000 Test runs,” Panesar told Hindustan Times. “He is 34 and can play for another six years. In that time, he will easily score another 4,000 to 5,000 runs. Tendulkar played until he was 40. Root will break that.”

Root has been the most prolific Test batter in the world over the last five years, scoring 5,720 runs in 61 matches with 22 centuries and 17 fifties.

In the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, he continues to dominate the charts, having already amassed 6,080 runs in 69 matches, including 21 hundreds and 22 fifties.

Later this year, Root will be tested again when England travel Down Under for the next edition of the Ashes. Interestingly, despite his decorated career, Root is yet to score a Test century in Australia.