MULTAN: Joe Root broke Alastair Cook’s England Test record of 12,472 runs on the third day of the opening Test against Pakistan in Multan on Wednesday.

The 33-year-old became England’s highest run scorer in Tests, and the fifth highest of all time, when he drove Pakistan seamer Aamer Jamal for a straight boundary to reach the 71 he needed to surpass Cook.

As Root achieved the feat he was applauded by a handful of England fans at Multan stadium as well as his team-mates in the dressing room.

It took Root 268 innings and 147 Tests to pass the record of his former captain Cook, who achieved his tally in 161 Tests in a glorious career that ended in 2018.

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Root, who made his Test debut in 2012, went to the lunch interval 72 not out with his record standing at 12,474 runs and counting.

The all-time list is headed by India’s Sachin Tendulkar with 15,921 from 200 matches.