Alastair Cook issues an official statement on Joe Root surpassing him for most Test 100s by an English batsman

Legendary England batter Alastair Cook was full of praises for his former teammate Joe Root after the latter's record-breaking hundred against Sri Lanka in the second innings of the second Test match at Lord's.

With England in slight trouble in the second innings, Root ensured that the team did not get out cheaply and scored his second hundred of the match.

He scored a brilliant 103 off just 121 balls to help England give a mammoth target of 483 to win for Sri Lanka.

With this hundred, Root surpassed Alastair Cook to score the most Test hundreds by an England batter.

He is now sixth on the list for the most Test centuries with 34 hundreds to his name. On the other hand, Alastair Cook has scored 33 hundreds.

Also read: Joe Root issues a confession on breaking Sachin Tendulkar's record for most Test runs

Alastair Cook hails Joe Root after his record-breaking hundred

After Root's record-breaking hundred, Alastair Cook lavished huge praises on Joe Root. While speaking on BBC, Cook claimed that Root is England's greatest and he deserved the record.

"He is quite simply England's greatest, and it's right that he should have this record, on his own. We are watching a genius," Cook said on BBC.

Cook further mentioned that he already predicted Root's century when he was batting on 6. He called him a craftsman at work.

"I don't think there's a batsman that I can remember watching play...the sense of inevitability about scoring runs that Joe Root gives off. I called it when he was on about 6 today, that he was going to get 100. I know he's in great form, but it's just a pleasure to watch a master, a craftsman at work," he added.

Joe Root's brilliant form in Tests

Joe Root has been in brilliant form in the last few Tests. He was the highest run-getter in the Test series against West Indies as he scored 291 runs in three Tests at an average of 72.75 with 1 hundred and 3 fifties.

Alastair Cook also remembered the time when Joe Root came out to bat in his debut Test match at Nagpur. Cook was England's captain in that historic series in which England defeated India. It was the last time India had lost a Test series at home.

"The game was in the balance and he (Joe Root) walked out to bat with his England cap on, looking 13, a massive smile on his face. I watched his first few balls, and I was like, 'This bloke is here to stay.' I honestly said, 'He's scoring 10,000 runs.' I don't know who I said it to, but I know that I said it," Cook said.

Joe Root's second hundred of the Test

It was the second hundred of the Test match for Root after he scored a magnificent 143 in the first innings which helped England to post a massive first innings score of 427.

Root is by far the highest run-getter of the ongoing series as well. The right-hander has scored 350 runs in just two Tests at an average of 116.66 with two hundreds and 1 fifty.

Joe Root is now 17 hundreds behind the great Sachin Tendulkar who has 51 Test hundreds to his name and is on top of the list. In terms of runs, Root is just 3544 runs behind Tendulkar. Considering his current form, he seems likely to break the record one day.