LONDON: Joe Root celebrated his 33rd Test century, equaling the record of English legend Alastair Cook for the most Test centuries by an English batsman. Another accolade for Joe Root that came with this century is his entry into top ten century-makers in test matches.
At Lord’s ground, Sri Lanka initially made a promising start with the ball after choosing to bowl first. However, Joe Root’s exceptional form quickly took charge, beginning his innings at 42/2 and anchoring England’s batting alongside Harry Brook and later Jamie Smith.
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Root scored rapidly and, despite offering a single half-chance—an inside edge off Milan Rathnayake that narrowly missed the stumps and sped to the boundary—he remained dominant throughout his innings.
Having recently surpassed 12,000 Test runs to become the seventh-highest run-scorer of all time, the 33-year-old Root is now eyeing the records of Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar as he continues to build on his remarkable career.
Overall, Root has 12,274 runs to his name, with an average of 50.71 and a strike rate of 56.82.
This century not only ties Root with Cook but also marks him as the joint-tenth highest century-maker in Test history. Having recently surpassed 12,000 Test runs to become the seventh-highest run-scorer of all time, the 33-year-old Root is now eyeing the records of Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar as he continues to build on his remarkable career.
Former Te
In this regard, the right-handed batter pointed his index finger to the skies after drawing level with his former captain Alastair Cook.
The 33-year-old made these comments after his 143 helped England recover from 130/4 to go to stumps at 358/7 at Lord’s on the opening day of the second Test against Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, the star-cricketer Graham played a major role in the batting evolution of Root, who just now needs 198 runs to become the country’s top Test run-getter.
“He saw something with me and pushed hard for me to go away that winter and worked with him. We worked tirelessly on my game against spin – being able to get close to the ball, get away from it, utilising different sweeps – and also against pace… working very hard to make sure that those areas of the game which are different to county cricket, you are up to speed with,” Root recalled.
Root, 33, made his debut back in 2012. He played his first game in England’s tour of India in Nagpur.
During the conversation, the top-order batter discussed the ongoing Test series against Sri Lanka.
Moreover, he supported the stand-in captain Ollie Pope, who had a third successive failure in the series.
st captain Joe Root scored his 33rd Test century at Lord’s against Sri Lanka owing his achievement to his late friend and former batting mentor Graham Thorpe, who passed away earlier this month.
“I’ve been very lucky to work with a lot of people, whether it be senior players, coaches, mentors, and Thorpey was one of those people who offered me so much,” Root said. “It was nice to be able to think of him [Thorpe] in that moment. He’s someone I’m sorely going to miss, and who I owe a lot to. He put a lot into my game into my career, and without his help, I definitely wouldn’t be where I am now.”
