Joe Root
Joe Root. Credit: Getty Images

Records kept tumbling for the England team and its captain, Joe Root as the Three Lions started the 4-match Test series against India on an emphatic note in Chennai by defeating the hosts by a massive margin of 227 runs.

On Tuesday, with England’s win over India – one which not many would have foreseen at the start of the series – in Chennai, Joe Root has now become the most successful England Test skipper. Root has led his country to 26 Test wins in 47 Tests, equalling the previous record holder, Michael Vaughan’s 26 victories in 51 Tests.

Sir Alastair Cook, from whom Joe Root took over, has 24 Test wins (59 matches) as captain and is tied with Sir Andrew Strauss ( 50 matches).

England
England wins the first Test match in Chennai. Image-Twitter.

The current England side is on a tremendous victory run – they have now won their last 6 Test matches in Asia; the record for most consecutive wins by visiting sides in Asia is held by Australia which of 7 Test victories. Apart from these two instances, no other overseas team has won more than three consecutive matches in Asia.

The current England team, which has won their last 4 Test series against Sri Lanka, Pakistan, West Indies, and South Africa – two of which were away from home – have a claim at the greatest English side ever if they go onto win the series against Virat Kohli’s side and are well equipped to win the Ashes in Australia later in the year.

Read More  IPL Live Streaming In India– When and Where To Watch RCB vs KKR Live In India? IPL 2024, Match 10

Joe Root named Man of the Match

Joe Root
Joe Root. Image-Twitter.

While as much as a surprise, not anymore, it is to see England take a lead in India, there are no second thoughts over the Man of the Match award recipient, Joe Root. The right-hander smashed his 20th Test ton and converted it into his 5th double century – third as a captain, and second in three Tests – to compensate for a century-less last year.

Joe Root’s 218-run inning in the first innings was once again – like his twin centuries in Sri Lanka – an exemplary knock on how to play spin. Dom Sibley, who struggled in Sri Lanka, has taken a leaf out of his skipper’s handbook as he scored 87 off 286 deliveries. Root and Sibley along with Ben Stokes’ breezy fifty set up the match for England.

All the 4 frontline English bowlers picked wickets in both innings to hand India their only second Test defeat at home since 2013. The second Test match commences on 13th February at the same venue.

Also Read: England Leapfrog India To Go On Top Of The ICC World Test Championship