England captain Ben Stokes hails Joe Root the greatest ever as he closes in on Ricky Ponting
Root (13,259) will enter Wednesday night's fourth Test against India 119 runs behind Ponting (13,378) as the second-highest run scorer of all time.
South African Jacques Kallis and Indian Rahul Dravid sit between Root and Ponting but hold just a 29 and 30-run lead respectively.
If Root is to better Ponting in the first innings in Manchester, he will top the Aussie great in less innings.
Regardless, if Root is to pass Ponting this week, he will still need at least three years of dominant scoring to eclipse Indian batting genius Sachin Tendulkar (15,291).
Stokes said 'less is more' when asked about Root and the impending record before labelling him the greatest ever.
'Yeah, sometimes with those, less is more, maybe?' he said.
'I don't need to say anything else other than he's just the absolute G.O.A.T.'
Root will be England's most pivotal player in this summer's Ashes despite making none of his 37 Test centuries on Australian soil.
The right-hander has a modest average of 35 in Australia and has failed to convert nine of his 50s.
Root's recent purple patch in the twilight of his career is poised to propel him among some of the game's greats.
But former Aussie coach Darren Lehmann sparked a spat between the old rivals last year when he labelled Root 'a rung below' for his record in Australia.
'Joe Root is a great player, but is he an all-time great? He's had (three) goes in the Ashes (in Australia), hasn't made a hundred,' Lehmann said told ABC Sport.
'He is a rung below (Steve Smith, Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson) for that reason.
'They've made runs all over the world in difficult conditions against different oppositions. And that's the only thing stopping Joe Root.
'I think he's a great player, but is he in that upper echelon? I don't have him in that realm.
'I think you've got to make hundreds all around the world. Smith does, (Kane) Williamson has, Kohli has, (Rohit) Sharma has – I mean they're world-class players.'
The Ashes begin in Perth on November 21.
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