Joe Root surpasses Sachin Tendulkar to become leading fourth-innings run-scorer in Test cricket

Last month, the English batsman crossed Younis Khan with his 35th Test century as Khan scored 34 during his career

English star batsman Joe Root has surpassed Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar to become the all-time leading run scorer in the fourth innings of Test matches. Root’s historic feat came during England’s recent victory over New Zealand at Hagley Oval.

The 33-year-old Root, who already holds the record of most test runs by an English player, played a crucial role in the fourth innings, finishing with an unbeaten 23 runs off just 15 balls to help England secure an eight-wicket win.

This performance saw him eclipse Tendulkar’s previous record of 1,625 runs, as Root now boasts a total of 1,630 runs in the fourth innings of Test matches.

Root’s achievement places him at the top of the list, with former England opener Alastair Cook in third place with 1,611 runs, shared with South African great Graeme Smith. West Indies legend Shivnarine Chanderpaul completes the top five with 1,580 fourth-innings runs.

Root has become a cornerstone of the English batting order, having played 150 Test matches and accumulated 12,777 runs at an average of 50.90 and a strike rate of 57.23.

While Root’s remarkable achievement in surpassing Tendulkar in fourth-innings runs is noteworthy, it is important to note that only 620 of Root’s runs have come in England victories, compared to Tendulkar’s 715 runs in wins.

Interestingly, former South African captain Graeme Smith remains the only player to have scored over 1,000 fourth-innings runs in Test victories.

On the overall Test run-scoring chart, Root (12,777 runs) now trails Tendulkar (15,921 runs) by just 3,144 runs, having played 55 fewer innings than the Indian cricket icon.

In an earlier turn of events, Root was dismissed for a four-ball duck in the first innings of the Test match against New Zealand, falling to Kiwi debutant Nathan Smith. This made Root only the third batter in history, after Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting, to be dismissed for a duck in their 150th Test match.

Last month, Root also surpassed Pakistan’s legendary batsman, Younis Khan, in the record books after scoring his 35th Test century, while Younis Khan has a total of 34 centuries under his belt.