Ponting tips Root to overtake his Test tally in Manchester

Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting believes England batter Joe Root is en route to overtaking his run tally in Test cricket on Day 3 of the Manchester Test. Root, who completed his half-century early on Day 3 against India, is within touching distance of Ponting’s tally in the all-time men’s Test cricket run charts.

Ponting (13,378 runs) is currently the second-highest run-getter in Test cricket after Sachin Tendulkar’s tally of 15,921. On Friday, Root went past South African legend Jacques Kallis and the former India captain’s tally of 13,288 and 13,289, respectively, to become the third-highest Test run getter.

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Speaking to Sky Sports ahead of the third day’s play at Old Trafford, Ponting said, “If he keeps going on like this, that could very well happen today. It’s a great day for batting, and what a remarkable career it’s been for Joe. How he’s transformed from someone that couldn’t go on past fifty to hundreds. Now it seems like every time he gets to fifty, you just mark him down for a hundred, or a big hundred.”

“Just looking at some of the numbers, 37 Test match hundreds, 13,000 runs—what an amazing career to date.”

At the start of the day, Root was the fifth-highest run-getter in the longest format – 18 runs behind Dravid and 19 runs behind Kallis, who were fourth and third, respectively.

Ponting also added that there is more to come from Root and that the England talisman can also overtake Sachin Tendulkar as the all-time run scorer in the format.

“There’s still a fair bit to go. What is he, 35? Doesn’t look like his passion for the game is going anywhere.

“His run-scoring passion has probably gone up over the years. Can he chase down Sachin? Let’s see. He might as well do that.”

England are currently leading 2-1 in the five-match ICC World Test Championship series.