Not Sachin Tendulkar! Harry Brook Declares England Batter As 'Best Of All Time'
Harry Brook called Joe Root the 'best Test batter of all time,' even though Brook recently replaced Root as the top Test batter in ICC rankings.
Ending all media comparisons in one swipe, Harry Brook declared Joe Root as the 'best Test batter of all time' on Monday (July 21). Brook, who replaced Root as the number one Test batter in the ICC men's rankings recently, said he was still 'not in the same league' as the senior Englishman and would rather he be at the top.
Root, over the past couple of years, has made a strong case for himself as the greatest English batter. With more than 2500 runs to his name since 2023, he has gone past Alastair Cook's tally of 12472 Test runs. He's now only 120 runs away from leapfrogging Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting to become the second-highest run-scorer in the history of the format, which will leave only Sachin Tendulkar ahead of him.
'Everybody wants to be number one, don't they?" Brook said about the rankings and comparisons in a press conference. 'Him probably more than anybody else. He's a phenomenal player. I'm not in the same league as him, so I'll happily let him have it. He's played for 12-13 years or however long he's played. In my opinion, he's the best Test batter of all time, so I'll let him have that one for now," he added.
Brook and Root have been among England's best batters in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy so far, helping the hosts take a 2-1 lead. However, their biggest examination would be the fourth Test on a Manchester surface, which is likely to be of most help for bowlers so far.
Meanwhile, England have included bowling all-rounder Liam Dawson in their playing 11 for the injured Shoaib Bashir. Brook seemed pleased with the 35-year-old's return to Test cricket after eight years.
'He's a wily old fox, very experienced. He's a very skillful cricketer as well. He's played everywhere, played against everyone. . . Hopefully he can land it in the foot-holes and create a bit of spice out of there and some opportunities to take wickets. He's obviously a very good batter as well, he's got nearly 20 First-Class hundreds. That's adding to our strength in batting. He's a good bloke, he's willing to always fight for the team. He's very competitive and it's good to have him here," Brook said.
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First Published:
July 21, 2025, 23:31 IST
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