Mark Taylor thinks Sachin Tendulkar’s Test record is in jeopardy
Former Australia captain Mark Taylor believes Sachin Tendulkar’s remarkable record of most Test runs is in danger of being broken and has declared who he thinks has the best chance of surpassing the India great.
Tendulkar is one of 14 players to have scored more than 10,000 Test runs, with the India right-hander leading an illustrious list of Test players with a grand total of 15,921 runs in five-day cricket.
Fellow greats Ricky Ponting (13,378), Jacques Kallis (13,289) and Rahul Dravid (13,288) are the closest challengers to Tendulkar’s mark, while England batter Joe Root is the nearest current day player having just gone past the 10,000-run mark himself.
Root became the 14th player to join the exclusive club when he guided England to a five-wicket victory over New Zealand on Sunday and Taylor said the experienced right-hander is not done yet.
Taylor thinks Root has plenty more runs left in him and expects the former England captain can challenge Tendulkar’s record over the coming years.
“Root has a minimum of five years left in him, so I think Tendulkar’s record is very achievable,” Taylor told Sky Sports.
“Root is batting as well as I have ever seen him bat over the last 18 months to two years. He is in the prime of his career, so there are 15,000 runs-plus for him if he stays healthy.”
Joe Root became the latest member of the 10,000 Test runs clubJoe Root became the latest member of the 10,000 Test runs club
Tendulkar was aged 31 years and 326 days when he reached the 10,000-run milestone and then continued to play Tests until just after his 40th birthday.
Root, meanwhile, was some 169 days younger than Tendulkar when he reached the mark on Sunday, joining fellow England batter Alastair Cook as the youngest player to break through the coveted 10,000-run barrier in five-day cricket.
Cook didn’t get involved in any debate about Tendulkar’s Test runs record, but the former England captain did show his appreciation of Root’s feat.
“I was so glad I was here to witness that – an unbelievable knock by an unbelievable player,” Cook said. “He is the most complete England batsman in all forms.”
