Joe Root has broken a significant record by surpassing Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar to become the highest run-scorer in the fourth innings of Test cricket. Root achieved this feat during England’s recent victory over New Zealand at Hagley Oval, where he contributed an unbeaten 23 runs off 15 balls in the fourth innings, helping his team secure an eight-wicket win.
Root, who already holds the record for the most Test runs by an English player, now has a total of 1,630 runs in fourth innings, surpassing Tendulkar’s 1,625. The top five list includes former England opener Alastair Cook (1,611 runs), South Africa’s Graeme Smith (1,611), and West Indies’ Shivnarine Chanderpaul (1,580).
Root, at 33, has become a key player in the England batting lineup, with 12,777 runs from 150 Test matches, averaging 50.90 with a strike rate of 57.23. However, Root has scored only 620 runs in England victories, while Tendulkar amassed 715 in wins. Graeme Smith remains the only player with over 1,000 fourth-innings runs in Test victories.
Although Root trails Tendulkar’s overall Test run total of 15,921 by 3,144 runs, Root has played 55 fewer innings than Tendulkar. Root’s remarkable achievements include surpassing Pakistan’s Younis Khan for the most Test centuries after scoring his 35th century last month.
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