London, July 26: England vice-captain Ollie Pope won’t be surprised if Joe Root overtakes Sachin Tendulkar to become the all-time leading run getter in Tests.Root surpassed Ricky Ponting on Friday to move up to second position in the leading run getters standings. Tendulkar has 15921 runs while 34-year-old Root stands at 13409 after his 150 in the fourth Test against India here.
“He loves playing for England in Test cricket more than anything so I’m sure if his body allows…he’ll obviously be driven to make it to number one but I think he just wants to keep playing for as long as he can.
“The excitement he still has to play Test cricket, he’s always got the biggest smile on his face. The hunger he has for it, I wouldn’t be surprised if he can chase him down,” said Pope, who scored 71 in day three to help England reach 544 for seven at stumps.
Was Root aware about moving past Ponting in the leading run getters list?
“He’s not a big one for landmarks, but that’s a pretty cool one. Becoming second highest Test run-scorer is just incredible. I’m sure he knew what that number was but he’s not a guy who wants to shout about those things as well.
“Hopefully, we can get a win and if we put ourselves in that position, then he’ll enjoy that even more but it’s a pretty cool thing to have,” said Pope.
On England’s plan for day four, Pope said his team is looking to bat once in the game.
“The plan is just to get as many as we can. I think this wicket will deteriorate over the next two days so there’s going to be a real focus to drive that lead on to as big as we can and then put as much pressure on with the ball as we can too,” he added.