'It’s not impossible, but very difficult' - Gavaskar on Joe Root’s chances of breaking Tendulkar’s Test record

The former England Test captain Joe Root is continuing with his exquisite touch with the bat as the stylish Yorkshire-born batter smashed his 27th Test century recently. The last century against New Zealand was Root’s seventh Test hundred since the start of 2021, which indicates the kind of red-hot form he is in, in recent times. 

Whenever a batter shows this sort of incredible consistency, the fans across the globe begin speculating his chances of dethroning Sachin Tendulkar as the highest run-getter in Test history, and Root is not an exception to it. He has already breached the 10000-Test run landmark, and considering his age of just 31; we can say that he has plenty of years left as an international cricketer.

The former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar has opined that although it’s not impossible, breaking Sachin’s record certainly demands a mammoth effort from the veteran English batter. 

Elaborating on it, the legendary former cricketer said it would require Root to bat with incredible consistency to break the Master Blaster’s record. 

“Anything is possible in the game. We first thought Richard Hadlee’s 431 wouldn’t break, but that was overtaken. Then we thought of Courtney Walsh’s 519. So, I mean, look where we are going. It’s not impossible, but very very difficult,” Gavaskar said. 

“That (Sachin’s test tally) is an insurmountable record because we are talking about another almost 6000 runs, which means you would have to score about 1000 or 800 runs over the next 8 years for you to get there,” he further added. 

Gavaskar, who was the first batter to breach the 10000-run mark in Tests, further stressed that the mental tiredness might hinder Root’s progress and result in a downhill movement of his career graph. 

“Sometimes, if you are playing around the clock, your form can also drop because there is mental tiredness that comes in. Root is scoring 150+ scores, but it can take a toll on him, mentally and physically,” the 72-year-old concluded.