England opener, Alastair Cook, was dismissed five runs short of 10,000 Test runs on the first morning of England’s second Test against Sri Lanka at the Riverside.
Cook, now 31 years and 154 days old, needed just 20 runs before the start of the Test match to beat India’s Sachin Tendulkar’s record as the youngest to reach 10,000 runs in the five-day format of the game.
But he perished when he was batting at 15 after putting on 39 for the opening wicket with partner Alex Hales on Friday morning.
Tendulkar, according to an NDTV report, had achieved this feat at the age of 31 years and 326 days.
On Cook’s possibly smashing his record, Tendulkar was quoted by AFP, “It is important to start afresh and keep preparing for the new game. You may have scored a century in the last game but that is the past. You also need to work on your weaker areas since bowlers, coaches and support staff are constantly analysing your batting. There is no substitute for hard work and discipline.”
The England skipper can still reach the landmark if England bat again in this match.
However, England only batted once in the first Test at Headingley last week — a match they won by an innings and 88 runs to go 1-0 up in this three-match series.
If England don’t have a second innings at the Riverside, Cook’s next chance to score his 10,00th Test run will come at Lord’s — the self-styled ‘home of cricket’ — where the third Test starts on June 9.