Joe Root becomes England’s all-time leading run-scorer in Tests

“Diligent, consistent, classy and effective,” Ramiz Raja, on commentary, couldn’t have summed up Joe Root’s career any better. 

On October 9 (Wednesday), the 33-year-old Root went past Sir Alastair Cook’s tally of 12,472 runs to become the highest run-scorer in England’s Test history. Earlier in the day, Root also equalled the legendary Rahul Dravid’s tally of 99 fifty or more scores in the red-ball format.

But none come closer to the feeling of becoming England’s all-time leading run-scorer, with his 71 taking him to 12,473 runs. In case you missed it, the Yorkshireman has already gone past Cook’s record with 34 Test centuries and also became the only batter from the current era of to have attained that legendary status. 

Former England spinner Monty Panesar was already in full praise for Root in a Cricket.com exclusive earlier, calling his purple patch ‘Don Bradman-like’. 

“Oh, I think Root is very hungry. Look at the way he’s playing over the last six months, he’s scored 30% of England’s all-home runs this summer. That’s very Don Bradman-like, he’s absolutely on course to beat Sachin Tendulkar’s record,” Panesar had told Cricket.com from the sidelines of Legends League Cricket. 

With Root’s purple patch, him going past Cook’s record seemed just a matter of time, but the consistency that he has shown over the last few years to become the best batter is nothing short of spectacular. He got to that mark with a sublime on-drive, combining ruthlessness with class. Root didn't stop there, mauling the Pakistani bowlers to bring up a triple-figure score, his 35th in Test cricket.

Here's the list of records that Root broke:

Most centuries in Test history

51 - Sachin Tendulkar

45 - Jacques Kallis

41 - Ricky Ponting

38 - Kumar Sangakkara

36 - Rahul Dravid

35 - Joe Root*

Players to score 5+ centuries in a calendar year on most occasions

Matthew Hayden - 4 (2001, 2002, 2003, 2005)

Ricky Ponting - 4 (2002, 2003, 2005, 2006)

Jacques Kallis - 3 (2004, 2007, 2010)

Steve Smith - 3 (2014, 2015, 2017)

Joe Root - 3 (2021, 2022, 2024)*

Joe Root in Test cricket

17 hundreds in his first 97 Tests (2012 to 2020)

18 hundreds in his last 50 Tests (since 2021)

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