Joe Root not just outpacing Smith, Williamson; the Englishman is now locked in to chase the great Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar's 15,921 once felt sacred. However, with Joe Root's continued ascension, the figure no longer seems invincible.
In the shadow of Trent Bridge’s century-makers and a lopsided scoreboard reading 498/3, Joe Root's 34 wasn't exactly headline material after Day 1 of England's one-off Test against Zimbabwe. However, it carried a weight that history will feel: 13,000 Test runs. No one had ever reached the mark faster. For Root, and for the supporters of the game around the globe, it was another signal that the mountain long thought unscalable – Sachin Tendulkar’s monumental tally of 15,921 runs – might just have a relentless climber locked in to conquer.
Root got there in his 153rd Test, leaving behind a pantheon of greats in his wake. Jacques Kallis (159 Tests), Rahul Dravid (160), Ricky Ponting (162), and even Tendulkar himself (163) all took longer to scale the 13k peak. At 33, with 13,006 Test runs now to his name, Root is 2,915 short of surpassing the Indian maestro, and the stars may finally be aligning for that possibility to become real.
Much has changed since the term "Fab Four" entered cricket’s lexicon. Once seen as a quartet of equals – Root, Steve Smith, Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson – today, it’s increasingly hard to argue that the Englishman hasn’t left the rest behind. Smith entered the 10,000-run club only this year and currently stands at 10,271. Williamson, meanwhile, is at 9276. Kohli, who hung up his whites earlier this month, finished with 9231. Kohli was the oldest of the group. Root is the youngest.
The Englishman's journey hasn’t been meteoric in the way Kohli’s once was, nor as flamboyantly dominant as Kohli and Smith at their peak. Instead, his rise has been defined by grit, patience, and an almost monastic dedication to the format. Through England’s white-ball revolution, the leadership burden, and the chaos of transitions between regimes, Root has been the constant.
Importantly, the England calendar continues to favour Test cricket, and Root continues to be at its heart. A five-match home series against India looms in June, followed by the Ashes and more red-ball engagements that stretch well into 2026. With a Test average of 50.87 across 13 years, Root has more time than the two remaining contemporaries in the Fab-4, not figuring in an early retirement, the possibility of which is highly unlikely. At his current rate, Tendulkar’s summit could be within reach in two to three seasons.
Outpacing his contemporaries
Where others have slowed, Root is still accelerating. Smith and Williamson, both now 34, are increasingly affected by fragmented schedules and injury concerns. Williamson, in particular, has missed swathes of cricket in recent years. Root, meanwhile, remains remarkably fit and consistently hungry.
And then there’s Kohli. For Indian fans, his rise once felt like destiny. Between 2014 and 2019, he was the game’s unchallenged centre. Double centuries flowed, and away averages skyrocketed. He was the one who looked likeliest to chase the godlike shadow of Tendulkar.
But the chase ended long before the summit came into view. Kohli’s dramatic dip post-2020 – a near four-year drought of Test hundreds – became the prelude to a quieter exit. His retirement this month, unceremonious and unfair even, for the player of his stature, marked the final chapter of a dream that slowly faded. He finished with numbers to be proud of, but far from the legend he once threatened to dethrone.
And that leaves Root. The quiet one. The constant. The man who has not just outlasted his peers but may now be on the verge of outscoring them all. He may never bring the noise Kohli did, or the chaos of Smith or the artistry of Williamson. But in the one currency that counts most in Test cricket, Root is dealing in volumes the modern game hasn’t seen before.
For years, Tendulkar’s 15,921 felt almost sacred. Root hasn’t reached it yet. But for the first time since the Little Master walked away in 2013, the record no longer feels invincible.
