Former Australia skipper Mark Taylor backed English batter Joe Root to go past Sachin Tendulkar's tally of 15,921 runs in Test cricket. He believes that the right-hander is in the prime of his career and is batting as good as anyone. 

Root yet again set the stage on fire with his masterful display of batting in the first Test against New Zealand at Lord's. The right-hander smashed his 26th Test ton, his first in the fourth innings, and remained unbeaten on 115 runs to take his side home. 

During his innings, Root also became only the second Englishman after Sir Alastair Cook to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket. He achieved the feat in his 118th match and was also awarded Player of the Match for his heroics. 

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Root also is the first batter in the history of the game to get to the milestone in the first 10 years of his international career. With the pace he is scoring funs, he can easily surpass Tendulkar’s tally of 15,921 runs and become the highest run-getter in the longest format of the game. 

Speaking to Sky Sports, Mark Taylor said that Root is in the prime of his career and can break Sachin Tendulkar’s record of highest runs in Test cricket. He lauded the former English skipper and said that he’s batting as good as anyone. 

"Root has minimum five years left in him, so I think Tendulkar's record is very achievable. Root is batting as well as I have ever seen him bat over the last 18 months to two years. He is in the prime of his career, so there is 15,000 runs-plus for him if he stays healthy,” Mark Taylor said. 

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Coming to the first Test between England and New Zealand, the hosts defeated the Kiwis by five wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the series. After losing the toss and bowling, the Ben Stokes-led side displayed a great performance and bundled out the opposition for just 132 runs. 

They then batted poorly and took a lead of just 9 runs before the visitors piled up a second innings total of 285 runs, setting a target of 277 runs. Root (115*) was well supported by skipper Stokes (54) and Ben Foakes (32*) as the hosts took a 1-0 lead in the series. 

The second match of the series between England and New Zealand is slated to take place from 10th June at Trent Bridge. 

(Sky Sports inputs)