Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting predicts Joe Root will eclipse his Test run record on Day 3 of the Manchester Test against India. Root was undefeated on 11 runs at the end of Day 2 and now trails Ponting by 108 runs in the all-time men’s Test run lists.

Joe Root is now Test cricket’s third-highest run-scorer, surpassing Rahul Dravid and Jacques Kallis on Day 3 of the fourth Test.

“If he continues like this, it may happen today. It’s a terrific day for batting, and Joe has had a remarkable career. How he’s progressed from being unable to move above fifty to hundreds. Now it appears that every time he reaches fifty, you simply mark him down for a hundred, or a huge hundred. “Just looking at some of the numbers, 37 Test match hundreds and 13000 runs, what an incredible career to date,” Ponting told Sky Sports.

Ponting also stated that Root has much more to offer, adding that the England star has the potential to surpass Sachin Tendulkar as the all-time leading Test run-scorer. Currently, England leads India 2-1 in the five-match Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series.

“There’s still quite a bit to go. What is his age, 35? His enthusiasm for the game appears to be unwavering. His zest for scoring runs has most likely grown over time. Can he track down Sachin? Let us see. “He might as well do that,” Ponting suggested.

England finished Day 2 at Old Trafford behind India by 133 runs. Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley both scored half-centuries, forming a 166-run partnership for the first wicket. India scored 358 runs in their first innings, including half centuries from Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan, and Rishabh Pant. England captain Ben Stokes claimed five wickets to hold India’s batting in check.