England captain Alastair Cook bettered legendary batsman Sachin’s Tendulkar's record to become the youngest batsman in the history of the game to score 10,000 Test runs.
Opening England's second innings with Alex Hales, after Sri Lanka, following on, were dismissed for 475 on Day 4 of the second Test, Cook got the five runs he needed to reach the milestone in the third over with a leg-side clip for four off Nuwan Pradeep and saluted the England balcony.
He also becomes the first English batsman to achieve the feat.
Tendulkar's 10,000th Test run came against Pakistan, in Kolkata in March 2005, a little more than a month before his 32nd birthday. He was 31 years, 10 months and 20 days old.
Cook, who turned 31 on Christmas Day last year, got past the 10,000 runs' barrier five months younger than India’s batting legend, at 31 years, five months and five days.
Besides Cook and Tendulkar, other players to score 10,000 runs are: Brian Lara, Kumar Sangakkara, Ricky Ponting, Rahul Dravid, Mahela Jayawardene, Sunil Gavaskar, Jacques Kallis, Allan Border, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Steve Waugh.
While Cook, who has played 127 Tests and scored 28 centuries since making his debut against India in 2006, became the youngest man to score 10,000 Test runs, he is not the fastest to reach the milestone in terms of innings played.
That record is currently split three ways by Tendulkar, Lara and Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara, who each needed 195 innings.
Australia's Ricky Ponting trails the trio by a single innings, at 196.
Cook, with 228 innings in Test cricket already to his name, slotted in between Jacques Kallis (217 inns) and Allan Border (235) in ninth position on what becomes a 12-man 10,000-run club.
