The legendary Alastair Cook, whose record for most Test hundreds by an England batter was broken by another England batter Joe Root, has applauded the latter calling him a “genius”. With twin tons in the Lord’s Test against Sri Lanka, Root’s tons tally went up to 34.

“He is quite simply England’s greatest, and it’s right that he should have this record, on his own. We are watching a genius,” commented Alastair Cook on BBC. “I don’t think there’s a batsman that I can remember watching play…the sense of inevitability about scoring runs that Joe Root gives off. I called it when he was on about 6 today, that he was going to get 100. I know he’s in great form, but it’s just a pleasure to watch a master, a craftsman at work,” he added.

“The game was in the balance and he walked out to bat with his England cap on, looking 13, massive smile on his face. I watched his first few balls, and I was like, ‘This bloke is here to stay.’ I honestly said, ‘He’s scoring 10,000 runs.’ I don’t know who I said it to, but I know that I said it,” he said.

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Meanwhile, Joe Root himself felt that the lockdown was a time when he could reassess his game. Notably, Root has been in sublime form and smashed back-to-back centuries.

“That was a period where we were home for long and I sort of had a deep dive into what my strengths were, and where i was making similar mistakes and how could I become a more rounded player at the end of it. It’s nice when you get runs on the first tour back, feels like you’re up and running,” he said in a press conference.

“This environment and the way we look at the game now is fun to be around, to be part of. It’s an environment where you see guys come in and thrive and even as a senior player that gives you so much energy. And wanting to add and evolve, to get better and put into the pot, I think it’s product of what this team has created,” he said. “It is so easy to flourish in this environment- the way we look at the game and the way we want to play it. Even as a 31-year old who has played over 100 games, you look at the game now completely different now compared to how you did.”

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However, he could break Sachin Tendulkar’s tally for most Test runs and he is only 3544 runs away. Root also commented when he was asked if it was on his mind.

“I just want to play, do my bit for the team, score as many runs for my team and see where we get to. There’s no better feeling, I mean its obviously amazing to score hundreds, you’d be lying if it wasn’t a big part of why you started playing the game and what you love about it. But there’s no better feeling than winning Test matches. The more you can impact game and add to the team the greater it is. That’ll be the main focus. Hopefully, more days like this will come with that,” he told ECB.