England captain Alastair Cook became the first English cricketer to reach the 10,000 runs milestone in Test cricket on Monday during the second Test against Sri Lanka at Chester-le-Street.

In the process, he also became the youngest batsman to achieve the extraordinary feat, surpassing Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar.

Looking to reach the landmark in the first Test at Headingly, Leeds, Cook fell 20 runs short as he was caught behind for 16 off debutant Dasun Shanaka.

He fell five runs short after he was caught in the slips off Suranga Lakmal in the first innings of the ongoing Test.

The British Prime Minister David Cameron congratulated the lanky opener for achieving the remarkable feat.

Before the start of the Headingly Test, Cook had remarked:

“It would mean a lot and hopefully I can get there sooner rather than later so we can talk about something else. It's a big milestone in terms of the people who have done it previously so it would be great to try and score these 36 runs. I've just got to put that to bed and try and do what I've done in the previous 10 years, which is concentrate on that ball coming down and nothing else. If it's your day, go big and get a big score.”

After his 5 off 27 during England’s second innings against South Africa earlier this year, Cook was left with only 36 runs to become the 12th batsman to score 10,000 Test runs.

Alistair Cook made his debut against India at Nagpur in 2006, showing glimpses of his class with scores of 60 and 104.

Cook, who is renowned for his angular stroke play, took 128 matches to bank 10,000 runs.

In an interview earlier this month with ESPNcricinfo, Cook said:

“You can't really argue with a bloke who's scored 10,000 runs. No matter which way you've gone about it, that's a lot of runs, in a lot of different conditions and being tested for a long period of time.”

Cook put up a phenomenal show against Pakistan last year during a three-Test series. Though, Pakistan won the series 2-0, Cook topped the runs table. The lanky batsman plundered 450 runs in just five innings at a staggering average of 90.

Pakistan travel to the English shores later this summer for a face-off against Cook’s men in four Tests, which will be followed by five One-Day Internationals and a T20 International.

Cook, with his batting prowess against both the spin and pace, promises to pose a big threat for Misbah’s men.