Joe Root rose up to the eighth place in the tally of most Test runs during his century against the West Indies in the second Test. Root slammed his 32nd Test ton and surpassed West Indian legend Shivnarine Chanderpaul's tally of 11,867 runs to get to the eighth rank. (More Cricket News)
Former England captain Michael Vaughan heaped praise on Root and predicted that the right hander will soon become the most prolific English Test batter.
Root is less than 500 runs behind Alastair Cook, England's most successful Test batter, who has a total of 12,472 runs.
In fact, Vaughan went a step ahead and said that Root could also overtake Indian great Sachin Tendulkar who is at the summit of Test batting records with 15921 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," Vaughan wrote in The Telegraph.
The 33-year-old Root is now less than 4,000 runs behind Tendulkar.
Through his 121 against West Indies in the second Test, Root also joined the two other contemporary greats Steven Smith and Kane Williamson at the top of the list of active players with most Test centuries. Vaughan noted how shelving the reverse sweep has helped the 33-year-old.
"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 (in the second Test against the West Indies) and England’s lead was massive.
“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."
England have sealed the series against the West Indies by winning the first two matches and the third and final match begins July 26. England will play Pakistan and New Zealand later this year where Root will get a chance to surpass Cook and become England's most successful Test batter of all time.
