Joe Root sits second on the all-time Test run-scorers list. Sachin Tendulkar’s 15,921 remains the benchmark, a number that has stood untouched since the Indian great’s retirement more than a decade ago.
Root now has 14,278 runs from 169 matches. The gap is 1,643. It is still a mountain, but it is no longer an impossible one. Root is still 35 years old and that matters as Tendulkar played until he was 40 and scored out thousands of runs in his thirties.
Root has already shown he can do the same. He has reached his current total in 309 innings whereas Tendulkar needed 329 to get to 15,921. The Englishman converts consistently, averages over 50, and keeps finding ways to score in every situation. He recently became the first batter to pass 2,000 runs in the fourth innings of Tests. At Edgbaston he also overtook Sachin for the most half-centuries in the format, moving to 69.
England set to play plenty of Test matches
The next stretch of cricket will decide a lot as England’s schedule has a lot of cricket. A three-Test tour of South Africa begins in December. Then comes a one-off Test against Australia at the MCG in March 2027 to mark 150 years of Test cricket. A single Test against Bangladesh follows before the five-Test Ashes at home. That is ten Tests, potentially twenty innings, before the end of the 2027 Ashes. Scoring the remaining 1,643 runs in that window would require something close to 82 runs every time he bats. That is a tough ask even for Root.
A more realistic path is that he continues beyond the 2027 Ashes. His body has held up well, his technique remains sound, and England will keep giving him opportunities. Another productive couple of years and the record becomes a genuine target rather than a distant statistic.
Most fifties in Test cricket:
Joe Root – 69*.
Sachin Tendulkar – 68. https://t.co/MRL7oUG5ea— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) September 12, 2026
Recent form has been solid rather than spectacular. In the 3-0 series win over Pakistan he finished with an unbeaten 62 at Edgbaston, his highest score of the series and the innings that took him past Tendulkar’s half-century record. He also added the fourth-innings landmark in the same match. The Pakistan series marked his return to the England captaincy after Ben Stokes’ retirement. Leadership brings extra responsibility, yet Root has carried it before and kept scoring.
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Viv Richards believes Joe Root can go past Sachin Tendulkar
Viv Richards has already said he believes Root can do it. The numbers support the optimism as he has spent years producing runs when England needed them most. The question is simply how many more innings he has left at this level. Tendulkar’s record has lasted a long time for a reason. It is a mountain of runs compiled across 200 Tests in every condition against every attack. Root is closer than anyone has ever been. South Africa will be a stern examination for him as conditions will be tough. The MCG Test will be unique as it is a one off match and Bangladesh will follow. Then comes a full Ashes series on home soil. If Root is still scoring heavily through that period, the conversation will shift from can he break it to when will he break it. For now the number remains 15,921 and Joe Root has 14,278. He has a real chance to go past Sachin but a lot will depend on the next few years.
