Joe Root's Alastair Cook moment sparks intense Virat Kohli-Sachin Tendulkar debate: 'World record vs national record'

Indian fans on social media compared the Joe Root-Alastair Cook moment to Virat Kohli-Sachin Tendulkar from the 2023 ODI World Cup.

Former England captain Alastair Cook was at the iconic Lord’s, in the commentary box, on both days to witness history unfold in front of his eyes.

After Joe Root matched his all-time England record for the most Test hundreds with a knock of 143 in the opening innings of the second Test against Sri Lanka, the No. 4 batter notched up a stunning 103 on Day 3 of the match to surpass Cook, who had a rather heartwarming reaction to the moment.

Joe Root scored his 34th Test century on Saturday

After applauding Root, Cook, while on commentary for BBC, said: “He is, quite simply, England’s greatest. And it’s absolutely right, he should have the record on his own. Take it in, Joe. We are watching a genius.”

Cricket fans love to draw parallels when it comes to iconic moments. Root raised his bat to soak in the applause as a proud Cook watched on, it surely was a memorable day for England’s cricket history, but Indian fans on social media compared it to the famous Virat Kohli-Sachin Tendulkar moment from the 2023 ODI World Cup.

Last November, in the semifinal against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium, Kohli broke Sachin’s record for the most centuries in ODI cricket history. And his match-winning 117-run knock came in the presence of the legendary India batter.

Most on social media hailed the two moments saying “greatness recognises greatness,” others saw no similarity as they reckoned that while Root broke a “national record,” Kohli scripted a “world record.” Here is how fans reacted comparing the two aforementioned moments…

Joe Root on the verge of breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s all-time record

Root’s 34th career century took his overall run tally to 12377 runs. He now stands only 96 runs away from not only making it to the elusive top five in the all-time list in Test cricket, but also surpassing Cook for the most-ever runs by an England batter in the format’s history.

However, amid Root’s run-scoring spree in Tests, discussions have pertained to whether Root will be able to surpass Sachin’s all-time career tally of 15921 runs, which remains the most ever by a batter. With Root only 3544 runs away from the feat, it now only seems a matter of time.