Joe Root becomes first ever player to achieve this World Test Championship milestone

England’s star batsman Joe Root etched his name into cricket history during the ongoing first Test against Pakistan on Tuesday by becoming the first player to score 5000 runs in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC).

Root reached this remarkable milestone after scoring 32 runs off 54 balls, including two boundaries. Needing just 27 runs to achieve the landmark before the match, Root’s total now stands at 5000+ runs from 59 matches in the WTC.

He leads the WTC run-scoring charts, followed by Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne with 3904 runs and Steve Smith with 3484 runs. Among Indian players, captain Rohit Sharma has the most WTC runs, amassing 2594 runs in 34 matches.

Root is also on the verge of breaking another historic record, as he is just 39 runs away from surpassing Alastair Cook to become England's highest run-scorer in Test cricket. Currently, the 33-year-old has 12,434 Test runs and ranks 6th among the all-time top Test run-scorers.

Root's contributions come at a crucial time for England, as they look to respond to Pakistan's strong first-innings total, anchored by centuries from Salman Ali Agha, Abdullah Shafique, and captain Shan Masood.