MULTAN — Joe Root is already widely regarded as England’s greatest batter but he confirmed that status statistically on the third morning of this series opener against Pakistan when he overtook Sir Alastair Cook’s record to become his country’s all-time leading Test runscorer.

Coming into this match 71 shy of breaking Cook’s record of 12,472 runs that had stood for six years, the Yorkshireman reached that landmark shortly before lunch in Multan when he punched Aamar Jamal down the ground for four just four balls after he had survived an lbw review against the same bowler.

Root acknowledged the achievement by punching gloves with his batting partner Ben Duckett, who overcame a dislocated left thumb to come to the crease on the third morning after England had lost Zak Crawley for 78 early on.

It kicked off a day of celebration for the Root family, with the former England captain’s younger brother Billy, who plays for Glamorgan, getting married.

Root’s class has been evident ever since he made his Test debut against India at Nagpur in December 2012.

The fact he has passed Cook’s mark in 14 fewer matches underlines the magnitude of his achievement and his brilliance over the past 12 years.

Root had already beaten Cook’s record for the most England Test centuries – 34 – when he hit twin hundreds against Sri Lanka at Lord’s in August.

This, though, was the record that means the most.

In the pantheon of Test cricket’s greats, only India’s Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis of South Africa, Australia’s Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar have scored more Test runs.

Root, still only 33 and surely with a few years left yet at the top level, looks likely to pass at least three of that quartet. And don’t rule out the possibility of him overhauling Tendulkar’s record mark of 15,921 given Root has scored more than 4,000 runs over the past three years. Indeed, this innings also saw him pass 1,000 runs in a calendar year for the fifth time in his career.

Cook, who spoke to BBC’s Test Match Special at the lunch interval from his Bedfordshire farm, has backed Root to chase down Tendulkar.

“I can see him overhauling Sachin’s record,” said Cook. “When I retired, I thought there was every chance that my record will be broken. I thought only the effects of captaincy and the hunger that takes out of you would stop him. I think the fact that Ben Stokes has taken over the captaincy has helped Root.

“You could say Sachin is still the favourite [to hold onto the record] but just. He’s been so lucky with injuries. All great players who played for a long time have been lucky with injuries. You just never know what’s around the corner, but it has to be something like it that could stop him. But I don’t see that happening for Root to lose that hunger and ability to keep driving himself forward for the next couple of years.

“The only slight hurdle in his way will be the [2025-26] Ashes series. There is always something happening around the series. It’s in 14 months’ time and there’s always a story about the damage that happens or doesn’t happen around every Ashes series.

“I’d give Sachin 51 per cent and Root 49 per cent. But I would be betting on Root to do it.”

Despite starting slowly on this third morning, Root’s 18 runs in the first hour were enough to see him notch his 99^th 50-plus score in Tests – equal with Dravid, who played 17 more Tests.

Only Ponting, Kallis and Tendulkar have managed a century of 50-plus scores but it seems inevitable Root will join them at some stage during this three-match series against Pakistan.