England skipper Joe Root on Sunday became England's highest run-scorer in Test cricket as captain, surpassing Sir Alastair Cook in the elite list. Root achieved this feat during Day 4 of the ongoing second Ashes Test against Australia at the Adelaide Oval. Cook had scored 4,844 runs in 59 Tests as captain of the Three Lions while Root (4,859) surpassed him in the list after 58 Tests. Michael Atherton occupies the third spot in the list with 3,815 runs followed by Graham Gooch (3,582) and Andrew Strauss (3,343) completing the top five.
Most runs for England in Tests as captain
Joe Root - 4859
Alastair Cook - 4844
Michael Atherton - 3815
Graham Gooch - 3583
Andrew Strauss - 3343
Also, Root's knock of 62 in the first innings in Adelaide was his 11th 50+ score in Test cricket as England captain, overtaking Peter May, who had 10 such scores to his name.
For the record, Root is already the leading run-scorer in Test cricket in 2021, although he has played more matches than anyone else this calendar year.
Earlier, Root had surpassed Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar to become the first player since South Africa's Graeme Smith in 2008 to score more than 1,600 runs in Test cricket in a calendar year.
England have a mountain to climb against Australia in the ongoing second Ashes Test in Adelaide.
The visitors need to chase a mammoth 468 runs to win the match and level the series 1-1.
Australia had won the first Test at the Gabba in Brisbane by 9 wickets.