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Former England batter Ian Bell hailed Joe Root by calling him 'England's greatest batsman' whether or not he overtakes Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar's Test records. Root has been on a tear, breaking records at will, and recently went past some all-time greats in Test runs.
The 33-year-old is currently sixth all-time with 12,402 runs and trails former England captain Sir Alastair Cook by 70 to enter the top five. Meanwhile, Tendulkar is Test cricket's all-time leading run-scorer with 15,921 runs in his illustrious career.
At 33, Root has been touted by several experts and fans as having a realistic chance to overtake Tendulkar and become the all-time No.1 run-scorer in Tests.
In an interview with the PTI, as quoted by TOI, Bell praised Root by saying:
“He’s played incredibly well in the last 12 months. I don’t think he’s overthinking too much what’s ahead. He’s just sort of living in the moment as we are. To think that Joe could get close is an amazing achievement on his behalf. He’ll go down as England’s greatest batsman. There’s no doubt whether he does get to Sachin or not."
"To think that he can even get close to someone like Sachin, a real great of the game, someone that we’ve all admired growing up, as a hero to not just people and fans in India, but around the world," he added.
Root also has 34 Test centuries (most by an England batter], trailing Tendulkar's record of 51 by 17.
The champion batter has been in incredible form in England's home Test summer, scoring three centuries in six games.
"It’s very hard to look past Virat Kohli, that is for sure" - Ian Bell on the best cover-driver
Renowned for his elegant cover drives, Ian Bell admitted India's Virat Kohli plays the shot the best among current batters.
Kohli has been arguably the best batter of the Modern Era, scoring almost 27,000 runs in international cricket with 80 centuries.
"It’s very hard to look past Virat Kohli, that is for sure. Not just his cover drive, but the way he plays, his desire for batting, his desire actually in competition and how he goes about his cricket. When he plays his cover drive, whatever format of the game, it’s a good one to watch. You know, my kids who love cricket, I certainly get them watching as much cricket from Virat Kohli as possible," Bell said in the same interaction.
Kohli's 80 international centuries is second all-time behind only Sachin Tendulkar's 100 tons.
The 35-year-old was recently in action during India's first Test win over Bangladesh in Chennai but scored only 6 and 17 in the two innings.
