Joe Root will captain England in the second Test against New Zealand, which is set to be played at The Oval in London from June 17 to 21. In the second Test of the ongoing three-match home series against the Black Caps, Root will have a chance to enter his name in the history books. If Root, who is England’s highest run-scorer in Tests, manages to score at least 48 runs at The Oval, then he will become only the second player in the world after Sachin Tendulkar to score 14,000 runs in Test cricket.
As of now, Root has 13,952 runs to his credit in 300 innings of 164 Tests. On the other hand, Tendulkar finished his 24-year-long Test career with 15,921 runs in 200 matches.
Most runs in Tests
| PLAYER | TEAM | MATCHES | INNINGS | RUNS | 100/50 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sachin Tendulkar | India | 200 | 329 | 15,921 | 51/68 |
| Joe Root | England | 164 | 300 | 13,952 | 41/66 |
| Ricky Ponting | Australia | 168 | 287 | 13,378 | 41/62 |
| Jacques Kallis | South Africa | 166 | 280 | 13,289 | 45/58 |
| Rahul Dravid | India | 164 | 286 | 13,288 | 36/63 |
Tendulkar needed 279 innings and 171 Tests to reach the 14,000-run
mark in the five-day format, whereas Root can achieve the same feat in his 165th Test.
In addition to becoming only the second player to score 14,000 runs in Tests, Root will also have a chance to become the first player in the world to score 2,000 runs against New Zealand in Test cricket.
Root, who made his Test debut in 2012, has scored 1,934 runs in 22 matches against the Black Caps. He needs 66 runs at The Oval to take his tally to 2,000.
Most runs vs New Zealand in Tests
| PLAYER | COUNTRY | MATCHES | INNINGS | RUNS | 100/50 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Root | England | 22 | 42 | 1934 | 6/9 |
| Javed Miandad | Pakistan | 18 | 29 | 1919 | 7/6 |
| Rahul Dravid | India | 15 | 28 | 1659 | 6/6 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | India | 24 | 39 | 1595 | 4/8 |
| Jacques Kallis | South Africa | 18 | 28 | 1543 | 6/6 |
| Allan Border | Australia | 23 | 32 | 1500 | 5/6 |
| Chris Gayle | West Indies | 12 | 21 | 1258 | 3/7 |
| Shivnarine Chanderpaul | West Indies | 21 | 34 | 1232 | 2/8 |
| Justin Langer | Australia | 14 | 23 | 1196 | 4/5 |
| David Boon | Australia | 17 | 27 | 1187 | 3/8 |
Overall, Root has scored 3,106 runs in 54 matches against New Zealand in international cricket (Tests, ODIs, and T20Is). If he scores at least 62 runs in the upcoming match, then he will go past Ricky Ponting and Virat Kohli to take second place in the list of batters with the most runs against the Black Caps across formats.
Ponting finished his international career with 3,145 runs in 69 matches against New Zealand, while Kohli has scored 3,167 runs in 73 innings of 60 international matches against the Black Caps.
Most runs vs New Zealand in international cricket
| PLAYER | COUNTRY | MATCHES | INNINGS | RUNS | 100/50 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sachin Tendulkar | India | 66 | 80 | 3345 | 9/16 |
| Virat Kohli | India | 60 | 73 | 3167 | 10/16 |
| Ricky Ponting | Australia | 69 | 77 | 3145 | 8/19 |
| Joe Root | England | 54 | 73 | 3106 | 9/16 |
| Jacques Kallis | South Africa | 67 | 76 | 3071 | 9/15 |
Tendulkar holds the record for scoring the most runs against New Zealand in international cricket. The legendary Indian batter played 66 matches against the Kiwis and scored 3,345 runs in 80 innings.
Root also tops the list of batters with the most runs in the World Test Championship (WTC) as captain, and if he manages to score at least 165 runs in the second Test against New Zealand, then he will become the first player in the world to score 3,000 runs in the WTC as captain.
Most runs as captain in WTC
| PLAYER | COUNTRY | MATCHES | RUNS | 100/50s |
| Joe Root | England | 32 | 2835 | 8/12 |
| Dimuth Karunaratne | Sri Lanka | 24 | 2160 | 6/12 |
| Ben Stokes | England | 39 | 2137 | 3/11 |
| Kraigg Brathwaite | West Indies | 32 | 1994 | 3/12 |
| Babar Azam | Pakistan | 18 | 1725 | 4/11 |
England’s playing XI for 2nd New Zealand Test: Ben Duckett, Emilio Gay, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root (C), Harry Brook, James Rew (WK), Jordan Cox, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue, Matthew Fisher, Sonny Baker
