Joe Root joins Alastair Cook as the second youngest to reach 12,000 Test runs

England’s Joe Root became just the seventh player in Test cricket history to score 12,000 runs. He hit this milestone during the third Test against the West Indies at Edgbaston on Saturday.

Root reached 12,000 runs when he scored 62 with a four off Alzarri Joseph on the first ball after lunch on Day 2. He teamed up with current captain Ben Stokes to help rebuild England’s innings, adding over a hundred runs for the sixth wicket.

England had been struggling at 54 for five in just 12 overs, chasing West Indies first-innings total of 282. In this innings, Root also notched his 95th fifty-plus score, ranking him sixth in this category among all players.

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We are witnessing GREATNESS! 🐐 pic.twitter.com/OLuS4GKn2H

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 27, 2024

Youngest players to 12,000 Test runs

33y 13d – Alastair Cook
33y 210d – Joe Root
35y 176d – Sachin Tendulkar
35y 214d – Ricky Ponting
36y 32d – Jacques Kallis
37y 68d – Kumar Sangakkara
37y 339d – Rahul Dravid

Root is the second youngest player to reach 12,000 Test runs, behind only his English teammate Alastair Cook. Root achieved this at 33 years and 210 days old. The oldest player to do so was former India captain Rahul Dravid at 37 years and 339 days. Root also surpassed the great Brian Lara’s total of 11,953 runs.

Fastest players to reach 12,000 Test runs in innings

224 – Kumar Sangakkara
247 – Ricky Ponting
247 – Sachin Tendulkar
249 – Jacques Kallis
255 – Rahul Dravid
261 – Joe Root
275 – Alastair Cook

However, Root isn’t the fastest to reach this milestone. Cook took 275 innings to get there, while Root needed 261 innings. Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara holds the record for the quickest, reaching 12,000 runs in just 224 innings. Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting are next, both reaching the mark in 247 innings.