Cook backs Root to surpass Tendulkar as leading run-getter in Test cricket

Dubai: Former England captain Alastair Cook feels Joe Root has the potential to surpass the legendary Sachin Tendulkar as the leading run-getter in Test cricket thanks to his insatiable hunger and incredible talent.

The 33-year-old Root currently has 12716 Test runs and is 3205 short of the Indian icon (15921).

Root occupies the fifth spot in the leading run-getter's chart at the moment with Rahul Dravid (13,288), Jacques Kallis (13,289) and Ricky Ponting (13,378) and Tendulkar ahead of him.

"I think Joe Root could set a mark, certainly on an English side, that'll be very hard to beat. But, you just never know," Cook was quoted as saying by the ICC.

"I hope he can get very close, if not be the first person who scores 16,000 Test runs. It'd be a great achievement." Root overtook Cook as England's leading run-scorer in the longest format during the Multan Test against Pakistan earlier this month.

Having watched his compatriot go past him to become England's most decorated batter, the 39-year-old Cook struggled to express his feelings and called up Root to congratulate him for his massive feat.

"I watched the moment, then I rang him after the end of the play. I couldn't think of the right words to write in a text message," Coon said.

"So, I thought I'd just ring him, see what he was up to, and make sure he had a beer in his hand, which I think he did." Root's remarkable form over the past four years has seen him score more than half of his total 35 Test centuries in that period, averaging close to 60.

Cook believes that he is currently the best batter in the world with New Zealand's Kane Williamson coming close to matching him.

"I think at this precise moment in time, I find it hard to see anyone playing as well as Joe Root. Over the last year or so, of the so-called 'Big Four', I think Williamson and him are probably in the best form at the moment.

"They're all wonderful, wonderful players, all very different, actually, in their methods and ways of playing. But one thing, which kind of unites them is that hunger and desire to keep improving and keep churning out the runs," Cook said.

Root will look to continue to amass big scores and add to his tally during the third Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi, beginning on Thursday.

Moving to another topic, Cook has expressed his support for England's 'Bazball' style of play in Test cricket.

"I think the game has certainly made a big jump forward in what is now deemed possible in Test cricket.

"I think the jump happened in one day cricket first, probably. The fundamental change, certainly from the English point of view, is when Owen Morgan took the side forward in 2015. And obviously the Ben Stokes era has changed the mentality of what was possible."