As Joe Root became England’s leading run-getter in Test cricket, the Three Lions skipper Ben Stokes on Wednesday said that it’s going to take a long time for someone to break that record. Star England batter Joe Root on Wednesday achieved a remarkable feat as he went past Alastair Cook to become the leading run-getter for the Three Lions in Test cricket. Root achieved the feat during the first Test match between England and Pakistan on day three in Multan. The England batter leapfrogged Cook’s record when he reached the 71-run mark at the Multan Cricket Ground.

Speaking in a video shared on the England Cricket Board’s (ECB) social media handle, Stokes said that Root always puts the team first and is a selfless player.

“The amount of times that he’s won us the game with the bat. Never mind the conversion rate, because, you know, converting these 50s into 100s doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to win the game. But the selflessness that he has, is an incredible attribute for him. He always puts the team first and the fact that he has got so many runs is just a bonus for us. He’s an incredible player. It’s going to take a long, long time for someone to come in and break that record. And you know, an unbelievable feat to score that many runs…,” Stokes said.

Root has now scored 12,473 runs in the long format for England. Meanwhile, Cook had 12472 runs for the Three Lions in Test cricket.

In the 43rd over, Root achieved the record when he took just one single against Pakistan’s Abrar Ahmed. Soon after the British cricketer achieved the record England’s dressing room stood and started clapping to honour the 33-year-old’s milestone.

At lunch of day three, England have posted 232/2 on the board, with Ben Duckett and Joe Root unbeaten with scores of 80 and 72, respectively. Till lunch, the visitors have added 136 runs in just 25 overs against Pakistan on the batting-friendly pitch in Multan.

In the first Test match in Multan, Pakistan scored 556 runs in their first inning. Abdullah Shafique (102), Shan Masood (151) and Agha Salman (104*) were the top run scorers for the hosts.

England Playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (C), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith (WK), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir.

Pakistan Playing XI: Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (C), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (WK), Agha Salman, Aamer Jamal, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed.

Joe Root on Wednesday became England’s all-time leading run-scorer in Test cricket.© England Cricket