England batter Joe Root continues to perform at his best and former skipper Michael Vaughan thinks he could become Test cricket's leading run-scorer, overtaking legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar's gigantic numbers.
World No 2 Test batter, Root (11,940 runs) moved up to eighth place on the list of leading run-scorers in Test cricket when he scored his 32nd Test century against the West Indies in Nottingham over the weekend and Vaughan thinks the 33-year-old can continue to reach even greater heights.
West Indies great Brian Lara is just 13 runs ahead of Root in seventh place, while Tendulkar's record tally of 15,921 Test runs is now less than 4,000 runs away as the England veteran continues to his rise up the exclusive club.
Vaughan expects Root to surpass Alastair Cook's total of 12,472 runs and become England's most prolific scorer when they face Pakistan and New Zealand later this year.
"Joe Root will become England's leading run-scorer in the next few months and is so special that he really could overtake Sachin Tendulkar eventually," ICC quoted Vaughan's column in The Telegraph.
"As the rock, Root is obviously key to that, and I love that he kept the reverse-scoop in the locker until he was past 100 (in the second Test against the West Indies) and England's lead was massive."
"Against an attack like the West Indies in these conditions, you expect him to get a century. He missed out in the first inning but was so determined to put it right in the second. He was never going to make the same mistakes," he concluded about Root.
Root is not the only England batter to have impressed Vaughan in recent times, with the exploits of young gun Harry Brook also catching the eye of the respected commentator and Ashes-winning skipper.
Brook scored his fifth Test century when he amassed 109 in the second innings against the West Indies at Trent Bridge and Vaughan was suitably captivated. This was Brook's fifth Test century and the first one in front of his home crowd in the UK.
"Then there is Harry Brook, who is going to provide spectators with so many 'I was there' moments in the next few years. He will play innings and shots that just make you go 'wow'. I have seen players with time, but I am not sure I have seen anyone with that much time to play aggressive shots looking very easy," Vaughan added.
The hosts wrapped up the series-clinching triumph late on the fourth day, with spinner Shoaib Bashir (5/41) claiming the third five-wicket haul of his career to help England dismiss the West Indies for 143 in pursuit of 385 for victory.
It means England now hold a 2-0 series lead in the three-match series against the West Indies and Ben Stokes' side gets the chance to clinch a series sweep when the third and final Test commences in Birmingham on Friday.
