Joe Root etched his name in the history books during the first day of play in the one-off Test match between England and Zimbabwe at the Trent Bridge Stadium in Nottingham on Thursday (May 22) as he continued his red-hot form in Test cricket.

Playing red-ball cricket for the first time in 2025, Root walked out to bat after the hosts made an incredible start as each of their top three got centuries. The ex-England skipper made a knock of 34 before being dismissed by Blessing Muzarabani.

Through the course of his knock, Root created history by completing 13000 runs in Test cricket. The England cricket legend is first English player to achieve the milestone and only the fifth player in history after Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis, Ricky Ponting, and Rahul Dravid.

Root completed the feat in 152 matches and his 278th innings in the format. He etched his name in history by becoming the quickest player (by matches) to reach the milestone and broke a record set by Jacques Kallis, 12 years ago. However, he is also the slowest player (by innings) to complete the legendary feat. Sachin Tendulkar was the quickest to reach the milestone by innings and slowest by matches in a polar opposite of Root's achievement.

Player	Matches Taken	Innings Taken	Date Completed 13000 Test Runs	Total Career Runs
Joe Root	152	278	22nd May, 2025	13000
Jacques Kallis	159	269	2nd January 2013	13289
Rahul Dravid	160	277	22nd November 2011	13888
Ricky Ponting	162	275	24th January 2012	13378
Sachin Tendulkar	163	266	17th Jan 2010	15921

Root has taken the cricketing world by storm since the start of this decade and remains a time of if and not when he becomes the second-highest run-getter in Test cricket. Sachin Tendulkar's run tally was seen as unbreakable for years, but Root has emerged as a serious contender to break the record. At the age of 34, many consider the England star to continue playing for a few years, with his form showing no signs of slowing down.