Former England captain Alastair Cook lavished praise on Joe Root and called him the best player of the generation. Cook said Root by far is the best player among the Fab 4 and only Kane Williamson comes close to him in the race. Root has been in phenomenal touch in Test cricket and recently broke Alastair Cook's record to become England's leading run-getter in the format. He is the highest run scorer this year, with 1300 runs to his name, including five hundreds.

Among the Fab 4, Kane Williamson is second on the list with 618 runs to his name. Virat Kohli and Steve Smith have been below par, with just over 200 runs to their names.

“I think at this precise moment in time, I find it hard to see anyone playing as well as Joe Root. Over the last year or so, of the so-called ‘Big Four’, I think Williamson and him are probably in the best form at the moment, " Root said to ICC.

“Over the last year or so, of the so-called ‘Big Four’, I think Williamson and him are probably in the best form at the moment

“They're all wonderful, wonderful players, all very different, actually, in their methods and ways of playing. But one thing which kind of unites them is that hunger and desire to keep improving and keep churning out the runs,” he added.

Cook also backed Joe Root to break Sachin Tendulkar's record of most Test runs. Root needs 3205 runs to leapfrog Tendulkar and become the leading run scorer in Tests. Given Root's form over the last four years, which saw him score nearly half of his 35 centuries, he should get very close to Tendulkar. Cook said it would be great if Root could break Tendulkar's record.

“I think Joe Root could set a mark, certainly on an English side, that’ll be very hard to beat. But you just never know. I hope he can get very close, if not be the first person who scores 16,000 Test runs. It'd be a great achievement,” he said.

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