Joe Root Surpasses Smith and Williamson, Sets Sights on Sachin Tendulkar’s Test Run Record

Joe Root Surpasses Smith and Williamson, Sets Sights on Sachin Tendulkar: Joe Root continued his climb up the ladder of top Test run getters when he entered the 13,000-run club. He achieved the feat on the first day of the one-off Test between England and Zimbabwe. They are playing a four-day match. Root needed 28 when he walked out to bat, and he fell for 34. But before he departed, he became the fifth player in the world and the first from England to score 13,000 Test runs.

Root currently has 13,006 runs to his name in 153 Tests and 279 innings. Add to that an average of 50.8, 36 100s, 65 50s, and a top score of 262. The man has the most runs among active Test players and is only 2916 away from going past Sachin Tendulkar’s world record tally of 15,921. He turns 35 this year, so time is on his side.

In the 80th over of England's first innings, he sprinted for a single off Victor Nyauchi to breeze past the iconic Proteas all-rounder's record, who scripted the milestone to his name in the 159th match, six more than what Root took.

Much has changed since the term "Fab Four" entered cricket’s lexicon. Once seen as a quartet of equals – Root, Steve Smith, Virat Kohli, and Kane Williamson – today, it’s increasingly hard to argue that the Englishman hasn’t left the rest behind. Smith entered the 10,000-run club only this year and currently stands at 10,271. Williamson, meanwhile, is at 9276. Kohli, who hung up his whites earlier this month, finished with 9231. Kohli was the oldest of the group. Root is the youngest.

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The 34-year-old's exploits came to an end courtesy of Zimbabwe's short-ball ploy. Muzarabani hit the deck and lured the English star to pull the ball away. Root couldn't control the trajectory and holed it straight to Sean Williams.

Throughout the opening day, Zimbabwe, hot on the heels after a Test win over Bangladesh, were tormented by England's 'Bazball' playing top-order after opting to bowl on a dry surface. Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley pounced on every loose delivery under Nottingham's cloudy skies.

Where others have slowed, Root is still accelerating. Smith and Williamson, both now 34, are increasingly affected by fragmented schedules and injury concerns. Williamson, in particular, has missed swathes of cricket in recent years. Root, meanwhile, remains remarkably fit and consistently hungry.

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And then there’s Kohli. For Indian fans, his rise once felt like destiny. Between 2014 and 2019, he was the game’s unchallenged centre. Double centuries flowed, and away averages skyrocketed. He was the one who looked likeliest to chase the godlike shadow of Tendulkar.

But the chase ended long before the summit came into view. Kohli’s dramatic dip post-2020 – a near four-year drought of Test hundreds – became the prelude to a quieter exit. His retirement this month, unceremonious and unfair even, for the player of his stature, marked the final chapter of a dream that slowly faded. He finished with numbers to be proud of, but far from the legend he once threatened to dethrone.

After Wesley Madhevere confirmed Duckett's departure, Ollie Pope arrived and added the trimmings with his third hundred in as many games at Trent Bridge. England ended the day with 498/3 on the board, the highest they have in England on the opening day. At stumps, Pope stayed unbeaten on 169 from 163 deliveries as England welcomed Zimbabwe on their soil after 22 years with a bashing.

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