Alastair Cook on verge of breaking Sachin Tendulkar`s historic record in Tests

Between June 2013 and May 2015, for two years, Cook could not score a single ton in Tests.

New Delhi: England Test captain Alastair Cook is just 36 runs away from joining the prestigious 10,000-run club in the traditional format of the game.

The left-hander has a great opportunity to achieve the feat when England take on Sri Lanka in a three-Test series beginning in Leeds on May 19.

In case if he manages to do that, Cook will enter history books by becoming the youngest man in history to do so, surpassing the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, whose 10,000th Test run came against Pakistan in Kolkata in March 2005, a little more than a month before his 32nd birthday.

In case if Cook, who turned 31 on December 25 last year, scores the 36 runs in the opening Test against the Lankans at Headingley, he would reach the 10,000 barrier five months younger than the Indian batting icon.

Cook would have achieved the feat much earlier, had he not gone through a forgettable period (June 2013 and May 2015) for two years, where he could not score a single ton in Tests.