On This Day: Sachin Tendulkar becomes highest-ever Test run scorer

Ahead of the upcoming Ashes series, many eyes will be on Joe Root to see if the England star can record his first-ever Ashes century in Australia as he bids to end his career as the all-time Test run scorer.

However, it was on this day in 2008 when Sachin Tendulkar achieved that feat and went on to post a career total that many assumed would be untouchable in modern-day cricket.

At the age of 35, Tendulkar took to the crease in Mohali on the opening day of the second Test against Australia needing just 15 runs to move ahead of West Indies legend Brian Lara, the holder of the all-time highest Test score.

Tendulkar would cruise to that mark, running three off the bowling of Peter Siddle, and fireworks would greet the feat being achieved by a player widely viewed as the greatest ever, partly a consequence of hitting 51 Test centuries from his 200 appearances.

Tendulkar's Test career continued for another five years after this particular achievement, but there is an argument that he had the capabilities to score far more than his eventual 15,921-run total, having failed to score a ton in his final 39 innings.

As it stands, Tendulkar holds a 2,378-run advantage over Root, who is the only active player in genuine contention to surpass Tendulkar.