Joe Root takes crown from Alastair Cook, becomes England's greatest with remarkable 33rd Test century

The 33-year-old England National Cricket Team batsman Joe Root has created history with his remarkable performance in the ongoing second Test of the three-match series against Sri Lanka National Cricket Team at the iconic Lord's Cricket Ground, London.

Joe Root's form has skyrocketed in the last few years in Test cricket and he carried that into the Sri Lanka Test series. In the series-opening clash, he scored 42 & 62* runs, respectively, to get one step closer to Sachin Tendulkar's iconic record of most Test runs.

Meanwhile, in the Lord's Test, he decided to take his performance a notch higher and smashed a terrific ton. He came to bat when England were struggling, and despite not getting much support from the other end, he stood in the middle like a wall and scored runs.

Joe Root single-handedly pushed Sri Lanka on the backfoot with his performance and completed his fifty off 84 balls. He looked in no mood to stop there as after grinding hard, he reached 99* and then played 12 dot balls, before completing a century on the 13th and celebrating the milestone in style.

Patience is a virtue 🧘‍♂️

Every Joe Root dot ball on 99*... before scoring his 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒚-𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒅 Test 1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ 🤯#EnglandCricket | @Root66 pic.twitter.com/vFtjccu66l

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 29, 2024

Root completed his century off 162 balls, and at the time of writing the report, he was batting at 137* off 193 deliveries with 18 fours. His batting performance helped him create and shatter historic records and establish his legacy as the greatest-ever Test batter of England, surpassing Alastair Cook.

Joe Root Creates History With Stunning Century vs Sri Lanka

Joe Root's ton against Sri Lanka was his 33rd in Test cricket, and he has now equaled the record of Alastair Cook for most Test tons by an Englishman in the history of Test cricket. He also broke Cook's record for most Test runs on English soil and is almost level with the number of hundreds Sachin Tendulkar had before turning 34 (35 Test hundreds).

Most Test centuries by an Englishman

33 - Alastair Cook

33 - Joe Root

23 - Kevin Pietersen

22 - Wally Hammond

Most Test runs on English soil:

Joe Root: 6569*

Alastair Cook: 6568

Among the active cricketers, Joe Root has the second-highest number of centuries in international cricket, and in Test cricket, he sits at the top of the list. Also, among fab-4 batters, he has the most tons in Tests.

Most International Hundreds By Active Players:

Virat Kohli - 80

Joe Root - 49*

Rohit Sharma - 48

Kane Williamson - 45

Steve Smith - 44

Most hundreds in Tests (Active Players):

33 - Joe Root (264 Innings)

32 - Steve Smith (195 Innings)

32 - Kane Williamson (176 Innings)

29 - Virat Kohli (191 Innings)

19 - Cheteshwar Pujara (176 Innings)

Most Test hundreds in Fab 4:

Root - 33* (144 matches)

Kane Williamson - 32 (100 matches)

Steve Smith - 32 (109 matches)

Virat Kohli Kohli - 29 (113 matches)

He made us wait for it, but the moment Joe Root and the whole of Lord's was waiting for 🤩💯 pic.twitter.com/6CnDVJ89tD

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 29, 2024

The 33-year-old made two more major records, as he surpassed Shivnarine Chanderpaul for most 50+ scores in Tests and made an entry as the joint-tenth highest century-maker.

Most 50+ scores in Tests:

119 - Sachin Tendulkar

103 - Jacques Kallis

103 - Ricky Ponting

99 - Rahul Dravid

97- Root

96 - Shivnarine Chanderpaul