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England star Joe Root, in a chat with Harsha Bhogle for Sony Sports, reflected on his admiration for Sachin Tendulkar, a light-hearted moment during his debut tour to India, and his current place among Test cricket’s all-time greats. An old tweet of Root’s from 2013 recently surfaced again, where he wrote, “Sachin made his debut for India before I was born. Then played in my Test debut. #ThankYouSachin.” Speaking now, Root shared, “Sachin is one of the greats. What he achieved with the pressure he was under was just phenomenal. When you play against him, you want to copy him, try to emulate him. Getting the opportunity to face him was a true honour.”
Joe Root tweet
He also recalled a moment from the 2012 India tour that left him amazed. “Pujara had scored a double hundred in the first Test. In the next one, he got out early and the entire crowd started cheering. I didn’t get it at first, then realised it was because Sachin was coming in to bat. It felt bizarre but showed how loved and legendary he was.”
Root recently moved to second on the list of all-time Test run-scorers, overtaking Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting during his superb 150 in Manchester against India. Now on 13,409 runs, he sits 2,512 behind Tendulkar’s record tally of 15,921.
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Describing the moment, Root said, “It’s a pinch-yourself moment. Growing up, I used to pretend to be Ricky Ponting, Kumar Sangakkara or Brian Lara in my garden or local club. Just to see my name next to theirs is pretty cool.” When asked about the possibility of chasing down Tendulkar, he played it down. “It’s not something I’ll focus on. Those things should look after themselves. The focus has to be about winning games.” Root acknowledged the noise around his milestones but added, “The numbers are everywhere, aren’t they? But you try not to get caught up in it. You’re not doing your job if you’re thinking only about yourself.”
