5 batsmen who could better Brian Lara's 400 in Tests

#2 Joe Root

Root’s adaptivity is the key to his consistency

In the past couple of years, Joe Root has established himself as England’s talisman in all three formats of the game. Considered to be one of the best batsmen of the sport in present times, the Englishman is ranked No.3 in the ICC Test Batsmen Rankings and he is on the brink of finishing this year as the highest run-scorer in Tests, having scored 1477 runs at an impressive average of 49.23 and a decent strike rate of 60.70.

Root played some excellent knocks during England’s Tour of South Africa at the start of the year. After a relatively disappointing performance during the series against Sri Lanka, he played his best cricket of the year when England hosted Pakistan during July. In the first Test, the right-hander scored a career-best Test score of 254 in the third innings before scoring a quick-fire 71 off just 48 deliveries in the second innings.

Despite England being thrashed 4-0 by India at India, Root played a couple of fine knocks and was the highest run-scorer for England throughout the series and the second highest run-scorer overall.

His ability to read the game and play according to the situation is what makes him such a terrific batsman and allows him to play freely with calculated risk. If Root can maintain his consistency then there is a very good chance that he might break Brian Lara’s record of 400 for the highest individual Test score.