LONDON: Former Australian captain Mark Taylor backed England’s batter Joe Root to break Sachin Tendulkar’s record of most Test runs, stating the former has a minimum of five years left in him.

Root, who recently completed 10,000 runs in the longest format of the game amid the recently-concluded Lord’s Test, has got a major motivation as the former Kangaroo captain backed him to break Indian batting great Tendulkar’s record.

“Root has a minimum of five years left in him, so I think Tendulkar’s record is very achievable,” Taylor told Sky Sports.

“Root is batting as well as I have ever seen him bat over the last 18 months to two years. He is in the prime of his career, so there are 15,000 runs-plus for him if he stays healthy,” he added.

Following his stunning century knock in the Lord’s Test, Root joined the exclusive club of the legendary batters with more than 10,000 runs in Tests.

Tendulkar, who leads the chart with the most runs in the format (15,921 runs) got a new challenger for his astonishing record as the former English captain Root is the nearest current day player having just gone past the 10,000-run mark himself at an age of 31 years.

It is pertinent to mention here that Tendulkar also achieved the 10,000-run mark at 31 years of age and continued to play Tests until after his 40th birthday.

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