Joe Root has been England's best batsman in Test cricket in the past few years and he has broken yet another record in the longest format of the game. Root has overtaken Kumar Sangakkara in a huge list and has broken his record. The former England captain has leapfrogged the Sri Lankan legend to become the sixth-highest run-scorer in Tests.

Root now has 12402 runs in 146 Test matches. The right-handed batsman was at the seventh spot before the start of the third game against Sri Lanka and is now placed at the sixth position. Sangakkara finished his Test career with 12400 runs in 134 Tests. The former Sri Lanka captain slammed 38 centuries and 52 half-centuries.

Root is just 71 runs away from overtaking Alastair Cook and becoming the fifth-highest run-scorer in Tests. Root already has the most centuries for England in Tests and in international cricket. He has breached the 100-run mark in Tests on 34 occasions. Cook hit 33 centuries.

Sachin Tendulkar tops the list of batsmen with the most runs in Test cricket. The Master Blaster finished his career with 15921 runs in 200 Tests. The former India captain had a long international career. He played 200 Tests, 463 ODIs and one T20I.

Root has a real chance of leapfrogging Sachin and becoming the highest run-scorer in Tests. But he only plays Test cricket now while Sachin was an all-format player.

With 13378 runs, Ricky Ponting sits at the second spot. Ponting was also an all-format player. He captained Australia to two World Cup title wins. Jacques Kallis scored 13289 runs in 166 Tests and sits at the third spot. He is followed by Rahul Dravid (13288) and Cook (12472), respectively.

Root made his Test debut in 2012 against India and is expected to play red-ball cricket for another 5-6 years. He captained England to 27 wins from 64 matches.