Joe Root added another golden page to his illustrious career in the fourth Test against India at Old Trafford. With an awe-inspiring century, not only did he contribute to England in the middle order, but he also wrote his name even further into cricket’s record books. That century saw him reaching 13,409 runs in Tests – now second behind only the great Sachin Tendulkar, who tops the table with 15,921.
Root jumped past three greats of the game: Rahul Dravid (13,288), Jacques Kallis (13,289), and Ricky Ponting (13,378), to move three spots higher in the all-time Test run-scorers list.
But the numbers don’t stop there. Root’s century was his 38th in Test cricket, placing him alongside Kumar Sangakkara. Only three players – Tendulkar (51), Kallis (45), and Ponting (41) – have more hundreds in the format. This consistency is further highlighted by his 104 fifty-plus scores, which now stand above both Ponting and Kallis (103 each), with only Tendulkar ahead with 119.
Against India, Root has been a bowlers’ nightmare. This was his 12th century against India – the highest by any batsman against them – breaking Steve Smith’s 11. Traditionally, only Don Bradman (19 against England) and Sunil Gavaskar (13 against the West Indies) have scored more than a century against a single side.
Interestingly, nine of Root’s 12 India centuries have been at home, and he is now the highest-scoring centurion against a single opponent at home. He now stands alone in this regard, having surpassed Bradman, who had eight centuries against England in Australia.
In terms of home supremacy, Root’s 23 Test centuries in England are joint-most by a batter in a country. That feat has only been achieved by Ponting in Australia, Kallis in South Africa, and Mahela Jayawardene in Sri Lanka.
He has now racked up 7,195 Test runs in England, the third-highest by any player in a nation. Only Ponting (7,578 in Australia) and Tendulkar (7,216 in India) have done better.
At Old Trafford in particular, Root has built a fortress of his own. His most recent knock saw his total at the ground reach 1,128 runs, with him becoming the first player to reach the 1,000-run mark in Tests at the historic venue. It is now the second ground where he has over 1,000 runs, the first being Lord’s, where he has 2,166 runs.
Root’s knack for overcoming world-class bowlers can be seen during his showdown with Ravindra Jadeja. In 37 innings, Root has scored 588 Test runs against the Indian spinner, getting dismissed only nine times. It’s the highest number of runs scored by any batsman against a specific bowler in Test history, surpassing Steve Smith’s 577 against Stuart Broad.
Joe Root, at 34, isn’t merely shattering records, he’s rewriting the very definition of Test batting. His hunger unabated and his game as solid as ever, it’s not a matter of if he can mount a challenge to Tendulkar’s revered 15,921 – but when.
