Does Joe Root Have The Edge Over Sachin Tendulkar After 154 Tests?

There was a time when one thought Virat Kohli would go on to break all of Sachin Tendulkar's records. However, as time passed it was clear that even a great like Kohli cannot get anywhere close to Tendulkar's records.

However, there is a possibility that one of Tendulkar's biggest records could yet be broken - a record that has stood for over a decade. Only one man can break or even come close to that record and that's Joe Root. 

> Root has scored 13,087 runs at 50.92 in 154 Tests, which includes 36 hundreds and and 66 fifties. At the same stage, Tendulkar had 12,273 runs, but had a better average (54.30), and more hundreds (40). But Tendulkar had played just 252 innings - 29 lesser than what Root has. 

> Tendulkar ended his career with 15,921 Test runs at 53.78, playing 329 innings in total. Root is just 48 innings away from matching Tendulkar, which is approximately 24-25 more Tests. If Root scores at his current average, he should have another 2,400 runs more, which is still not good enough to go past Tendulkar's run-tally. Root needs 2,835 runs to go past Tendulkar.

> Assuming Root, 34, goes on to play till he is 40, like Tendulkar did, he has a great chance of going past the Little Master. Root, who has 36 tons to his name, needs 16 more centuries to break Tendulkar's world record.

Safe to say, Root will have an uphill task to match Tendulkar's impeccable Test record. Root scored 28 and an unbeaten 53 in the first Test against India at Headingley. By doing so, he is now just 292 runs away from going past Ricky Ponting's Test runs. If he does so, the former England captain will be the second-highest run-getter in Tests.

Can he achieve that in this series against India, with four more Tests to go?