“He can score more runs than even Sachin Tendulkar” – Geoffrey Boycott’s makes bold Joe Root claims

Geoffrey Boycott believes England skipper Joe Root has the potential to go past Sachin Tendulkar’s run tally in Tests.

The England legend also backed Joe Root to play 200 Tests for the country.

Joe Root is coming off a player of the series performance in Sri Lanka.

The 30-year-old amassed an astonishing 426 runs in four innings against the island nation.

His stunning batting show saw him become England’s fourth highest run-scorer in Tests, with just Alec Stewart, Graham Gooch, and Alastair Cook now ahead of him.

In his column for The Telegraph, Geoffrey Boycott explained how Joe Root can become the leading run-getter in Tests if everything goes his way.

“Forget just scoring more Test runs for England than David Gower, Kevin Pietersen and myself. Joe Root has the potential to play 200 Tests and score more runs than even Sachin Tendulkar. Root is only 30. He has played 99 Tests and scored 8249 runs already. As long as he does not suffer serious injury there is no reason why he cannot beat Tendulkar’s record of 15,921,” Boycott wrote.

Although he backed Joe Root to become the leading run-getter in Tests, he urged fans and pundits to compare the Englishman to his contemporaries rather than former players.

“His contemporaries, such as Virat Kohli, Steve Smith and Kane Williamson, are wonderful players as well who could also score that many runs. We should enjoy Root and only judge him alongside those guys, not great names of the past because every player is a product of their environment.”

---

Boycott praises Joe Root’s enhanced technique

Joe Root is currently batting at a different level. His technique against spin bowling has been exquisite. One of the best players of spin bowling in Asia: showed that promise on debut in 2012 at Nagpur. Scored a double hundred in the first Test & hit 186 in the second Test v SL pic.twitter.com/DT4CnVa9Vl

— Sarang Bhalerao (@bhaleraosarang) January 24, 2021

While Joe Root has always been a proficient Test batsman, a welcome change in Sri Lanka was how his centuries came at a time when England needed them the most.

His double hundred in the first Test gave England a huge first-innings lead and set them up for victory.

But it was his fighting 186 in the second Test that was the highlight of the tour. Joe Root singlehandedly took the game away from Sri Lanka at a time when the home side looked on top.

The same was acknowledged by Geoffrey Boycott, who suggested Root used to be influenced by T20 cricket earlier.

Pointing to his Sri Lanka knocks, Boycott expounded how ditching the gung-ho batting style has helped Joe Root.

"Until this tour, Joe had not been making the big scores that influence matches. Perhaps the COVID-19 lockdowns allowed him time to take stock of his batting. For too long he appeared to be influenced by Twenty20 cricket. He was trying to force his way back into England's T20 side, but that frenetic type of batting is not for him."

While Joe Root’s confidence is sky-high, his next challenge is arguably the biggest of them all.

The skipper takes his side to India for a four-Test series.

If he can score runs on testing Indian tracks, few would doubt his credentials to become one of the all-time leading Test run-scorers.

But to break Tendulkar's record of 15,921 runs, Root will have to almost double his current tally of 8,249 runs.

Real character from the boys and a fantastic series win! Thank you for all your support back home 🦌🏆 pic.twitter.com/DpgRMX0ULj

— Joe Root (@root66) January 25, 2021