The upcoming three-match Test series between Pakistan and England will be crucial for both teams from the World Test Championship (WTC) points perspective, however, players from both teams are closing in on massive personal milestones. England with a loss to Sri Lanka at the Oval didn't help their cause as they needed to win all 12 out of their 12 remaining matches while Pakistan's 2-0 loss to Bangladesh all but ended their hopes of qualification. Both teams can only fight for whatever's left.
As far as WTC history is concerned, Joe Root is set to become the first and only batter to reach the 5,000 mark. Root, who has 4,973 runs to his name in WTC history since 2019 in 106 innings and needs just 27 more to get to the milestone. Root is head and shoulders ahead of any cricketer on the list, given the next batter, Marnus Labuschagne has scored 3,904 runs in the WTC.
Root, who has amassed 12,402 runs in Test cricket, needs 71 more to surpass Alastair Cook, to not only become England's leading run-getter in Test cricket but also get into the top five for leading run-getters in Tests. With six Tests remaining in the cycle, Root would be aiming to get to that 13,000 mark. On the other hand, former Pakistan captain Babar Azam needs 38 runs to get to his 4,000 Test runs.
Among the bowlers, Shaheen Afridi, Chris Woakes and Jack Leach are all close to that 100 wickets mark in WTC. Shaheen needs seven wickets to get to 100 WTC wickets, Woakes nine and Leach 10. Leach, who missed the India series after the first Test in Hyderabad due to an injury, has been recalled to the England setup after a superb show with the ball for Somerset in the County Championship.
England will miss their skipper Ben Stokes for the series opener, with the star all-rounder yet to recover fully from his hamstring issue.
