Trevor Bayliss backs Alastair Cook to go past Sachin Tendulkar

[JUGRAJ SINGH]

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Trevor Bayliss, the England coach, has backed Alastair Cook to go past Sachin Tendulkar in Tests. The England captain became the youngest and first Englishman to score 10,000 runs in Tests during his unbeaten innings of 47 in the second innings against Sri Lanka in the second Test at the Riverside in Chester-le-Street on Monday (May 30).

England clinched the three-match series 2-0 and Cook stretched his overall tally to 10,042. Tendulkar has 15921 runs to his name and the England captain is still 5879 runs away. However, given Cook has scored at a rate of around 1,000 runs a year for the past decade, only a career-ending injury or a sharp decline in form could deny him the chance to surpass Tendulkar's haul.

"It will be about how long he wants to keep doing it," Bayliss said. "But certainly there is time on his side, so there is no reason he couldn't if his heart is still in it and his will to do it is still there.

"He is right up there with any of the best international players. He has these powers of concentration. He is not the biggest stroke-player of all time - (but) he knows his game very well, he is very patient and he sticks to it. To be able to do that over the period of time he has played and score as many runs as he has is a fantastic effort."
 
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