Root started the series just 70 runs off Cook's record, after scoring 666 runs across England's 2024 home summer. Over the summer, he also broke another of Cook's records, becoming England's leading Test centurion of all-time with his twin centuries at Lord's against Sri Lanka.

After Ollie Pope was dismissed in the second over of England's first innings in Rawalpindi, Root came in at No.3 and batted out the rest of the day with Zak Crawley. He finished the day on 32 and resumed the following morning, reaching his half-century before drinks off 76 balls. He scored his 71st run before lunch on day three, at the end of the 42nd over of the innings, which took him past Cook's all-time tally.

Cook has held the record since 2015, when he went past Graham Gooch to see the top spot change hands for the first time in 2022 years. After going past Gooch's 8,900 runs, Cook became the first England player to score 10,000 Test runs and finished his career in 2018 with 12,472 runs.

Going past Cook doesn't only take Root to the top of the England run-scorer list, but also takes him up another place on the overall Test run-scorer list. Root now sits in fifth position with Rahul Dravid (13,288) next in his sights. Dravid himself sits just one run behind Jacques Kallis (13,289), with Ricky Ponting 89 runs down the road in second place (13,378). Barring disaster, Root should at some point catch all three, leaving just Sachin Tendulkar left to chase down to hold the all-time overall record (15,921).

Full List: England's all-time leading Test run-scorers

1. Joe Root - 12,473*

2. Alastair Cook - 12,472

3. Graham Gooch - 8,900

4. Alec Stewart - 8,463

5. David Gower - 8,231

6. Kevin Pietersen - 8,181

7. Geoffrey Boycott - 8,114

8. Michael Atherton - 7,728

9. Ian Bell - 7,727

10. Colin Cowdrey - 7,624

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