Ian Bell believes Joe Root will be looked upon as England’s best Test batter, regardless of him ever bettering the historic record of 15,921 runs by Sachin Tendulkar. Really, Root recently went past Sri Lankan great Kumar Sangakkara, moving into sixth in the record book and on top of the run-scorers in Test history.

Ian Bell Opines About Joe Root

“He’s played incredibly well in the last 12 months. I don’t think he’s overthinking too much what’s ahead. He’s just sort of living in the moment as we are,” Bell told PTI in an exclusive interview during Legends League Cricket.

“To think that he can even get close to someone like Sachin, a real great of the game, someone that we’ve all admired growing up, as a hero to not just people and fans in India, but around the world.

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“To think that Joe could get close is an amazing achievement on his behalf. He’ll go down as England’s greatest batsman. There’s no doubt whether he does get to Sachin or not,” said the 42-year-old who played as many as 118 Tests for England.

Joe Root has accumulated 12,402 Test runs in 146 matches, this includes 34 centuries and 64 half-centuries.

Brad Hogg Names Joe Root To Surpass Sachin Tendulkar’s Record

Brad Hogg puts more significance on the consistency produced by Joe Root in the post-Covid era.

“So, Joe Root has 146 Test matches with 12,000 runs. Sachin Tendulkar made nearly 16,000 runs in 200 Test matches. That’s 4,000 runs in 66 Tests. I think Joe Root can go close to toppling that,” he added.

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“I think it’s going to be something to watch. Watch out, Joe Root is on the move to beat Sachin Tendulkar. I think quietly he’ll have that in the back of his mind to try and topple that little unique stat,” he concluded.