'Told teammates we were watching future captain of England', Sachin Tendulkar recalls Joe Root's test debut

Sachin Tendulkar (Pic: File Pic)

Team India's legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar recalled the moment when he knew that stalwart Joe Root would become an exceptional player and England's future captain.

Tendulkar, during his AMA session on Reddit, recalled the way Root was rotating the strike against India during the Nagpur Test match in 2012.

"To have gone past 13,000 Test runs is a remarkable achievement, and he is still going strong. When I saw him for the first time in Nagpur in 2012 during his debut Test, I told my teammates that they were watching the future captain of England. What impressed me most was the way he was able to assess the wicket and how he rotated the strike. I knew at that very moment that he would be a big player," said the former cricketer.

On December 13, 2012, Root made his debut for England in Test cricket.

Sachin, who was nearing the end of his career, witnessed the Englishman's prolific batting display.

When England were at the score of 119 runs for the loss of four wickets in the first innings, the right-hander chipped in and emerged as India's nightmare. With his stunning batting skills, Root scored 73 runs off 229 balls.

Riding on his knock, the "Three Lions" reached a total of 330 runs.

Later, his priceless knock ensured the match ended in a draw, and England stood triumphant on Asian soil with a 2-1 Test series victory. Since his debut, Root has grown from strength to strength and was crowned England's Test captain after Alastair Cook retired in 2017.

He led the side until 2022.

Additionally, in the concluded Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, Joe Root became the fastest player to complete 13,000 runs in the traditional format of the game. He has taken a step closer to surpassing Tendulkar to become the top run-scorer in Test cricket.

Currently, he has 13,543 runs and is just 2,378 short of matching Tendulkar's record tally of 15,921 runs.

He will be keen to reduce the deficit during England's next Test assignment, which will be against their arch-rivals Australia in the Ashes, scheduled to commence on November 21 in Perth.

(With ANI Inputs)