Joe Root, who was appointed as England's Test captain after the retirement of Ben Stokes, achieved yet another remarkable milestone and is now racing towards Sachin Tendulkar's records in the longest format. During the second Test against Pakistan at Lord's, the right-handed batter overtook former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting to become the highest run-scorer in Test cricket on home soil.
The England batter reached the landmark on the second day of the second Test. Root began the match needing 13 runs to move beyond Ponting’s tally of 7,578 Test runs in Australia.
After being dismissed for four in the first innings, Root returned to the crease in the second, scoring 24 from 37 deliveries, enabling him to take his career tally in home Tests to 7,591 runs, surpassing Ponting. Root reached the record in fewer home Tests than Ponting.
The Lord’s encounter against Pakistan is his 89th Test in England, while Ponting accumulated his 7,578 runs across 92 Tests in Australia during a 17-year international career. The achievement adds another significant chapter to Root’s standing among Test cricket’s greatest run-makers.
{{/usCountry}}The Lord’s encounter against Pakistan is his 89th Test in England, while Ponting accumulated his 7,578 runs across 92 Tests in Australia during a 17-year international career. The achievement adds another significant chapter to Root’s standing among Test cricket’s greatest run-makers.
{{/usCountry}}Only the Master Blaster has scored more runs overall in the format, while Root’s latest record places him at the top of a prestigious home-run list that also features Mahela Jayawardene and Jacques Kallis. Speaking of Sachin, he is in the third spot in the list of most runs in home Tests with a haul of 7216 runs in 94 Tests.
Root's below-par performance
The England Test captain has been off colour in the 2026 home season. Root has gone 10 innings without scoring a century, and his best score remains 77, which came in the second Test against New Zealand at the Oval.
Speaking of the second innings of the second Test against Pakistan, Root’s stay at the crease was eventually ended by Mohammad Ali. The Pakistan seamer trapped him leg before wicket with the third delivery of the 17th over.
Root currently has 11,928 runs in 260 innings across 199 international matches on English soil. He needs 72 more to reach 12,000 international runs at home, a mark that would make him only the sixth cricketer to achieve the feat and the first from England. The benchmark he would be chasing is again held by Tendulkar. The former Indian batter amassed an extraordinary 14,192 international runs in 313 innings from 258 matches played in India.
Tendulkar holds the record for most Test runs with a haul of 15,921, and Root is still 1700 runs away from achieving the record.