Former England captain Joe Root recently shared a fascinating memory involving Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar during England’s 2012 tour of India. Root, speaking during the ongoing ENG vs IND 2025 series, recounted a moment that helped him grasp Tendulkar’s immense legacy and popularity in India.
Crowd Cheered Pujara’s Dismissal — For Sachin’s Arrival
Reflecting on the Ahmedabad Test in 2012, Root spoke about how he found it strange yet awe-inspiring that the crowd erupted in celebration not when Cheteshwar Pujara scored a double century, but when he got out — because it meant Tendulkar was coming to bat.
“𝑻𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝑷𝒖𝒋𝒂𝒓𝒂 𝒈𝒆𝒕 206 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒅 𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 — 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒆,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑹𝒐𝒐𝒕. “𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑺𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒂𝒕. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑰 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒚 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒖𝒓𝒂.”
He added,
“𝑰𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔. 𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅, 𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒕𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔, 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆.”
Playing Against a Childhood Hero
Joe Root also reflected on what it meant to play against someone he idolized growing up. Sachin made his debut in 1989 — before Root was even born — yet Root eventually shared the field with him.
“That’s someone you grow up watching and trying to emulate,” Root said. “To then play a Test match against him — that was surreal.”
Currently, Root has surpassed Ricky Ponting to become the second-highest run-scorer in Test history, behind only Sachin Tendulkar. In the Manchester Test of the ongoing 2025 series, Root displayed vintage form, scoring a fluent 150 off 248 balls. His crucial partnerships — 144 with Ollie Pope (71) and 142 with Ben Stokes (141) — helped England post a commanding 669 in the first innings and secure a dominant lead.
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