Cook downplays talk of surpassing 'genius' Tendulkar's record

England captain Alastair Cook has played down the possibility of surpassing batting legend Sachin Tendulkar's all-time record for Test runs despite breaking one mark set by the 'Little Master'.

Cook broke Tendulkar's record to become the youngest batsman to accumulate 10,000 Test runs last month. He achieved the milestone at the age of 31, five months and five days during England's nine-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second Test in Chester-le-Street.

However, the England captain is nearly 6,000 runs short of Tendulkar's record aggregate of 15,921 runs from 200 Tests.

"That record was set by an incredibly talented genius. I'm no genius and Tendulkar is so that is a long way ahead," Cook was quoted as saying by the Guardian.

"I want to play for England for as long as I can and at the moment I'm really enjoying it. I am really motivated and hungry and where that takes me, who knows. At the moment a lot of my goals are very immediate with this England team and as a captain - that takes me away from milestones as a batter," Cook added.

Earlier, former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar had stated that Cook could challenge Tendulkar's record because of his age and considering the large amount of Test matches England play during a year.