'Most complete England batsman I have ever seen': Alastair Cook backs Joe Root to go 'miles past' batting record

Former England captain Alastair Cook is the country's all-time highest run scorer and, at his peak, many backed him to even gun down Sachin Tendulkar's record for most runs scored in the history of the game. That didn't quite happen, with Cook retiring from international cricket at the age of 33 with 12,472 runs to his name while Tendulkar had sored 15,921.

Now, however, it is Joe Root who has been billed to be capable of chasing down Tendulkar's record. Root became the second English batter after Cook to cross 10,000 Test runs on Sunday by scoring 26th Test ton and leading England to victory over New Zealand at Lord's in the process. Cook said that Root will certainly go past him as England's all-time highest run scorer and will score much more as he doesn't think that the latter will retire at the age he hung up his boots.

"He is a pleasure to watch, the most complete England batsman I have seen," said Cook on BBC.

Cook said that while Kevin Pietersen could play incredible innings, Root is the most complete English batter he has seen in all three formats.

“The person who could play the most incredible innings was Kevin Pietersen, but for the most complete batsmen in all three forms, it's Root. His consistency is incredible," said Cook.

Root's appearances in white-ball cricket has dwindled in recent years as he prioritised Test cricket, being captain in the longest format of the game. He was, however, an integral part of the England team that won the 2019 World Cup and has scored 893 runs in 32 T20Is at a strike rate of 126.30 and average of 35.72.

Cook said that he had seen Root's ability back when the latter made his debut in India in December 2012. Cook had been captain of the team at the time. "He was a very good player of spin, as good as anyone. He was ready to play international cricket. You knew he could handle the occasion. Barring injury, he'll go miles past my record," said Cook.

"I would never have said I would finish at 33, but the time felt right for me. The mental strain I felt to score runs took a toll on me. I'm not saying it's easy for him, but he doesn't seem to have that problem."

"Barring injury, he'll go miles past my record," said Cook.

Cook said that Root is a far better run scorer than he was at the start of an innings.

"He is so hard to tie down. I had to grind my way to 30, it always took me what felt like two hours. Because Joe has got so many low-risk scoring options, pretty much through 360 degrees, he will often get to 30 off 40 balls."