Root acknowledged the milestone by waving his hand – and then his bat – to the England players and coaching staff who stood on the balcony of the Multan International Cricket Stadium’s dressing room to applaud him. He started this tour 70 runs behind Cook’s career total of 12,472 and moved past him by driving Aamer Jamal to the ground.

Root is still more than 3,000 runs behind Sachin Tendulkar’s world record but Cook believes he has every chance of breaking it. “I can imagine him overhauling Sachin Tendulkar’s record,” Cook told the BBC. “When I retired I thought there was every chance my record would be broken. I thought only the effects of captaincy and the hunger that comes with it would stop him. I think the fact that Ben Stokes took over as captain has helped Root.

“You could say Sachin is still the favorite but (only) narrowly. He was so lucky with injuries. All great players who have played for a long time have been lucky with injuries. You just never know what’s around the corner, but that’s the way it is.” Something like that could stop him, but I don’t think Root’s hunger and ability to push himself further in the next few years would lose.

“The only small hurdle in his way will be the Ashes series – there is always something happening around the series. It’s 14 months away and there’s always a story about the damage that happens or doesn’t happen in every Ashes series. I would give Sachin 51% and Root 49% but I would bet on Root making it.”

Before the first Test, Root had downplayed the significance of the record. “To be honest, it’s just because people keep asking me about it,” he said. “I see myself playing Test cricket for a lot longer. It’s not like I hit a certain mark or number and say, ‘Okay, I’m done now.’ I just want to keep enjoying the game, keep playing.”

With Ben Duckett unable to open the batting on the second evening in Multan and Ollie Pope deputizing for him, Root batted one place higher than usual at No. 3. After going out to bat in the second over of England’s innings, combined Root with Zak Crawley and Duckett – who recovered overnight to finish at number 4 – for century partnerships as England clawed back the deficit.

Root made steady progress on the third morning, reaching 50 for the 99th time in his Test career when he edged Naseem Shah inside at square leg just before the drinks break. On 65, he survived an LBW shout when Aamer Jamal hit him on the pad, which Pakistan unsuccessfully checked; Four balls later he secured the English record.