Joe Root scripted history as he became England's leading run scorer in Test cricket. Root reached the landmark when he scored his 71st run on Day 3 of the first Test against Pakistan at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

Cook, often regarded as England's greatest in red-ball cricket, scored 12472 runs in 161 matches and Root broke the record in his 147th Test.

Root has shown remarkable consistency since his debut and barring one year, where he averaged less than 40, he has been outstanding for England.

Root also broke through the top five leading run scorers in Test cricket, being the only active cricket to have 10000 or more Test runs to his name. His performance in the last few years has seen a significant growth, with the England batter taking a firm lead in the Fab 4 race. Root recently became the first player in the world to score 5000 runs in the World Test Championship.

Root is tipped to break Sachin Tendulkar's record of most Test runs and he inched closer to the landmark with a stunning knock. Root is unbeaten on 82 at the time of writing and is marching towards another emphatic century. If he manages to get to the hundred, he will overtake Sunil Gavaskar, Brian Lara, Mahela Jayawardene, and Younis Khan and become the sixth batter in the world to score 35 or more Test centuries.

Tendulkar has 51 Test centuries to his name, the most by any batter, and he is followed by Kallis (45), Ponting (41), Sangakkara (38) and Dravid (36).

Most Runs In Test Cricket

Player	Runs
Sachin Tendulkar	15,921
Ricky Ponting	13,378
Jacques Kallis	13,289
Rahul Dravid	13,288
Joe Root	12,473

Meanwhile, England have put up a strong response to Pakistan's first innings total of 556. The team is 249-2, with Root on 82 and Ben Duckett on 84.

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