Joe Root Breaks Alastair Cook's Record For Most International Centuries By An England Batsman

Continuing his thunderous form in 2021, England captain Joe Root struck another century on Thursday against India, at his home ground in Headingley.

With this ton, which is his 23rd in Test cricket, the 30-year-old went past former captain and opener Alastair Cook for most international hundreds by an England batsman. Cook had hit 38 hundreds, while Joe Root, now including his 16 ODI tons, has 39 international centuries.

Next on the list are former greats, Kevin Pietersen (32), Graham Gooch (28), and Andrew Strauss (27).

The Yorkshireman is also catching up with Cook in terms of Test runs – having already gone past Cook in ODI, Joe Root is less than 3500 runs behind the left-hander and is likely to surpass him and become England’s greatest ever Test batsman.

This is Joe Root’s 6th three-figure score of the year and third in three consecutive matches in the ongoing series. With close to 1400 runs this year, he’s now closing in on Michael Vaughan’s record of most Test runs by an English batsman in a calendar year – the former captain amassed 1481 runs in 2002.

England’s lead goes past 300 with Joe Root’s century and three other fifties

Half-centuries from each of England’s top three – Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed, Dawid Malan – and the magnificent ton from Joe Root have helped England’s lead swell over 300, and it would be fair to say that they have batted India out of the game. This, after they had bowled India out for 78 on Day 1.

Burns and Hameed put on a 135-run opening stand, which was broken by Mohammed Shami in the morning session with the wicket of Burns. Ravindra Jadeja accounted for Hameed’s wicket ahead of lunch. But, instead of succumbing to the pressure, Malan, returning to the Test side after three years, and Root played their shots on a fairly flatter surface before the left-hander was dismissed on the last ball of the second session.

While India made some inroads in the third session, the English captain continued to plunder runs before being castled by Jasprit Bumrah on 121.

Also Read: “Ravindra Jadeja And Ravichandran Ashwin Are Good Enough To Get Wickets On Any Track” – Maninder Singh