Former Australian cricketer Shane Watson believes that England batter Joe Root will finish his Test career with best runs than the other members of the ‘Fab 4’ club – Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, and Steve Smith. He also said that Root will get really close to Sachin Tendulkar’s Test record by the end of his career and, probably, could even surpass the Indian legend.
Former England skipper Root has secured 10015 runs from 118 Tests at an average of 49.57. While Kohli has managed 8043 runs from 101 Tests, Smith has 8010 from 85 games. New Zealand captain Williamson, concurrently, has amassed 7289 runs from 87 Tests.
Root was just now in the news for his match-winning century in the Lord’s Test against New Zealand. Requested how far the England legend can go with regards to becoming the leading run-taker, Watson described on The ICC Review:
“He’s as good as anyone to be able to get as close as he can. For sure, he’s got a lot of great cricket in front of him, so I think he is going to get very close.”
On who among the ‘Fab 4’ is possible to finish with most Test runs, the Aussie said:
“Just by seeing where Joe Root is right now, he is the youngest one with Kane Williamson, who is 31 as well. Those two have still got a fair way to go. I think Joe Root is going to finish on top. For the other guys, it depends on how much cricket they continue to play. They’ve still got a lot of cricket left in them.”
Instead of writing off Kohli and Smith, the 40-year-old asserted:
“Virat Kohli and Steve Smith, they can still churn out the runs for the next three to four years. You never know, they’ll get right up there with the all-time run-scorers as well. We’ve been very fortunate to have those four in world cricket over the last six to seven years. To see them at the peak of their powers is always special.”
Out of the 4, Kohli has lost steam in the later seasons. He doesn’t have a single hundred to his title since November 2019.
“I’d be very amazed if he just doesn’t take off again” – Shane Watson’s statement on Joe Root
Watson claimed that Root could be all the more destructive with the bat now that he is never again leading the England Test side. He clarified:
“Now that he is not captain, he’s going to have greater freedom. The pressure’s just off and I’d be very surprised if he just doesn’t take off again and make the most of the freedom that he’s going to have.”
Talking about the England batter’s thirst for runs, he predicted:
“From a Test match point of view, he could play around 170-180 Test matches and if he gets around there, he’s going to be near Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar with the amount of runs that he could score in that period of time.”
Tendulkar and Indicating are the all-time leading Test run-taker. While the Indian legend has 15921 runs from 200 games, the Aussie huge has secured 13378 runs from 168 Tests.
Also read-
| “They always give us beneficial guidance” – Saurashtra’s Prerak Mankad on picking the intellect of Cheteshwar Pujara also Jaydev Unadkat. |