Former England Test captain Joe Root surpassed Mahela Jayawardene in the list of leading run scorers in Test cricket during the second Test against the West Indies on 18 July at Trent Bridge, Nottingham.

Root achieved this milestone during England’s first innings after the West Indies invited the hosts to bat first. The England star, with a splendid 11,818 runs, surpassed Mahela Jayawardene, who had amassed 11,814 runs runs in Test cricket career.

 

Joe Root Goes Past Mahela Jayawardene

Now placed at number nine, Joe Root is eyeing the milestone set by India’s great Sachin Tendulkar, who leads with an astounding 15,921 runs.

The 33-year-old is just 49 runs to surpass the West Indies great Shivnarine Chanderpaul, which he can achieve probably in the England’s second innings. Meanwhile, Root currently trails behind another cricket legend, Alastair Cook, who holds the record for the most Test runs scored by an English player with 12,472 runs.

Later in the match, Joe Root fell to Jayden Seales in the 30th over, scoring 14 runs in 29 balls. At the time of writing, England are leading the three-match Test series 1-0 and are currently at 160 for 3 in their first innings.

Most Test runs in history

Player
Runs

Sachin Tendulkar
15,921 runs

Ricky Ponting
13,378 runs

Jacques Kallis
13,289 runs

Rahul Dravid
13,288 runs

Alastair Cook
12,472 runs

Kumar Sangakkara
12,400 runs

Brian Lara
11,953 runs

Shivnarine Chanderpaul
11,867 runs

Joe Root
11,818 runs

Mahela Jayawardene
11,814 runs