Joe Root has overtaken Sir Alastair Cook as England’s leading Test match run-scorer of all time.
The 33-year-old moved past Cook’s haul of 12,472 during day three of the first Test against Pakistan in Multan with a boundary to reach 71no from 111 deliveries, having begun the morning 38 runs behind his former team-mate’s tally.
Root eclipsed Cook’s record of 33 Test centuries for England this summer when he scored two hundreds against Sri Lanka at Lord’s.
The Yorkshireman is now the fifth-highest run-scorer in all Test cricket, behind Sachin Tendulkar (15,921), Ricky Ponting (13,378), Jacques Kallis (13,289) and Rahul Dravid (13,288).
Root made his Test debut against India in Nagpur in December 2012, scoring 73 in his first innings batting in the No 6 position.
He notched the first of what is now 34 Test tons against New Zealand at Headingley the following May and his first double century versus Sri Lanka at Lord’s in June 2014.
Root’s highest Test match score is the 254 he struck against Pakistan at Emirates Old Trafford in July 2016, one of five times he has reached 200 in the format.
“I was so thrilled that he got it with a classic Root-like shot,” said Sky Sports Cricket’s Michael Atherton.
“If you think in your mind’s eye of the best of Root you are thinking back-foot punch, maybe a run down to third man but the way he plays those drives down the ground.
“It was a gorgeous shot to get there. What a lovely moment.
“Twelve years of excellence. That is exactly what it has been.
“I was there in Nagpur, I thought ‘this is going to be one of our greats’ but you still have to do it.
“You have to turn potential into performance and it is hard to think of a time when his form has dropped off.
“He has been so consistent over the years and he has done it in a way which is so pleasing.
“He is an absolute champion. He is one of our best players if not the best player we have had.”