Joe Root, England’s key player, is scoring lots of runs. The ex-England captain scored 150 in England’s only innings in the fourth Test against India in Manchester. He’s now the second-highest Test run-scorer, passing three legends at once.
After his 38th Test century, Root trails only Sachin Tendulkar in Test cricket runs. He’s 2512 runs behind but is expected to challenge the record, given his great form and age.
Root is also close to a World Test Championship record. With 5946 runs, he needs just 54 more to be the first to 6000 runs in WTC history. He was also the first to reach 5000 runs in the Test Championship and is likely to hit the 6K mark first as well.
No other player is even close to 4500 runs in the Test Championship, while Root closing in on 6K. Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne are the only other players above 4000 runs in this period, with 4278 and 4225 runs, respectively.
Top WTC run-scorers:
1 – Joe Root: 5946 runs
2 – Steve Smith: 4278 runs
3 – Marnus Labuschagne: 4225 runs
4 – Ben Stokes: 3616 runs
5 – Travis Head: 3300 runs
Before this, Root scored a century in the third Test against India at Lord’s. That 104 was Root’s first century of the series. The English batter has 38 Test centuries and is tied with Kumar Sangakkara for fourth place.
England leads the five-match series against India, though the visitors managed to draw the fourth Test. England won the first Test in Leeds, chasing down 371, but lost the second in Birmingham, with India defending 608. England won the third Test at Lord’s before the draw in Manchester.