Joe Root inches closer to Sachin Tendulkar’s record, just 492 runs away from…

Veteran English batter Joe Rooter has taken over his peers touted as the ‘Fab Four’  -- Virat Kohli, Steve Smith and Kane Williamson. With his recent match-winning century against New Zealand, Root is now firmly in the list of all-time greats and could even go on to break Sachin Tendulkar's record for most runs in the format.

As things stand, Root is currently the fifth highest run getter in Test cricket behind, Sachin, Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid. Root has scored 12,886 runs in his 151 matches so far, at an average of 57.37, and is just 492 runs behind Ponting's 13,378 runs. Notably, Root is the only active player on the all-time Test run scorer's list. The 33-year-old is just 3,035 runs away from Sachin Tendulkar's record at 15,921 runs.

Joe Root vs Fab Four:

While Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson had an edge over Root in the past, the former English captain has been in sensational form over the past few years. For instance, Root (17) had the lowest centuries in Fab Four while Kohli led the list with 27 tons, at the start of 2021.

In the current state, however, Root is leaps and bounds over everyone else with 36 centuries and 64 half centuries. Meanwhile, Kane Williamson and Steve Smith are on the second spot with 32 centuries each, and Virat Kohli follows closely behind with 30 Test tons.

While Root is closing in on 13,000 Test runs, the rest of ‘Fab Four’ are yet to cross the 10,000 run mark. Steve Smith is the highest run scorer after Root with 9,704 runs in his 111 matches at an average of 56.09. Meanwhile, Kohli follows with 9,163 runs in 120 matches at an average of 47.7 and Williamson is at the bottom with 9,076 runs in 104 matches at an average of 54.34.