Which modern batsman will surpass the great Tendulkar?

#3 Joe Root

Joe root has a bad habit to get rid of

From the time he started at the age of 23, Joe Root was always touted to be English cricket's next big batting star and boy did he make it happen. Nearly 28 years old, Root has 4946 runs from the 121 games he has played at a remarkable average of 51.52. A look at his career cumulative average (yellow line) certainly suggests a steady uphill progression, and it seems like he has arrived at his comfortable average where he is likely to spend the rest of his playing career.

Playing approximately 19 ODIs each year if Root continues to play until he's 40 (i.e another 228 matches) Root ends with a grand total of 16574 runs, very close to the great Sachin Tendulkar. Therefore, Root actually has a decent chance of making it to the peak provided he keeps his fitness levels up and prevents any major injuries. However, Root certainly must get rid of the bad habit of not converting 50s to 100s, should he wish to get to the mark.

Something that does need to be taken into consideration is that English cricketers don't normally play 400-450 ODI's like Asian players, and rather prefer to play Test Cricket as the lone format towards the end of the career. In fact, series like the Ashes tend to take a lot out of English cricketers leading them to miss a significant amount of cricket in the build-up and aftermath of the grand contest.

Taking into consideration such factors, I would give him a 6/10.

Root hangs out with the top guys in the business

Predicted Career Course: (purple line)

Root has the advantage of not being an opener, which makes his scoring rate faster