Joe Root breaks Tendulkar's world record

Root played a pivotal role in England's 8-wicket victory in the final Test of the three-match series against Pakistan, remaining undefeated on 62 off 69 balls.

Beyond steering his side to victory, the knock earned him an exclusive spot in cricket's history books.

With his fifty at Birmingham, Root's tally of 50-plus scores in Test cricket rose to 69, breaking the previous world record of 68 held by Tendulkar. The 35-year-old English master now stands alone at the top of the list.

West Indies legend Shivnarine Chanderpaul sits third on the all-time list with 66 fifty-plus scores, followed by Australia's Allan Border and India's Rahul Dravid, who both registered 63.

Despite the milestone, the recently concluded series against Pakistan had otherwise been quiet for Root, who managed 164 runs across five innings without a century and was dismissed for single digits twice. His unbeaten 62 in Birmingham thus carried extra significance.

Having claimed the half-century record, Root is now closing in on another major milestone held by Tendulkar: the record for the highest run-scorer in Test history.

Tendulkar accumulated 15,291 runs across 329 innings. Root currently stands at 14,278 runs from 309 innings, leaving him 1,014 runs shy of breaking the Indian legend's all-time run tally.