STATS HIGHLIGHTS
Follow UsThree things in life are certain: death, taxes, and Joe Root’s greatness.
Remember that moment when Sachin Tendulkar was in awe watching Virat Kohli go past his ODI feat to 50 centuries? Remember how Kohli had sunk to his knee, almost in disbelief?
But do you also remember that phase when it almost seemed like Kohli would never surpass Sachin’s tally of 49 ODI centuries? That phase when everything was seemingly a struggle for the Indian batter.
With Joe Root, there was none of that. He put one effortlessly through the cover region for his fastest Test century.
FASTEST TEST CENTURY?
That in itself would make a lot of players happy, but imagine your fastest Test century coming when you are just one knock away from being the greatest Test batter in England’s long-standing cricketing history.
You do realise the pressure, you do realise how much of a weight that monkey has on your back? For Root, not so much. Because all he needed was two innings at Lord’s, one to equal Alastair Cook’s record of 33 Test centuries, and one more to put it past him, becoming the only player in modern-day Test cricket to have 34 TEST CENTURIES!
There was a very brief moment in the Bazball era where it felt like Root would not convert those starts into big scores, but once he started getting those three-figure scores, the world started looking like a better place.
Not one person, not even the most elite of ones at the famed Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) were seated; they were, in fact, doing something that very few players in the past have demanded: a standing ovation.
Root entered the record books in the most Bazball-esque manner, with some ‘jaw-dropping’ shots. But what’s more jaw-dropping is the NUMBER OF RECORDS THAT HE BROKE:
Most 100s at Lord’s in Tests
7 – Joe Root*
6 – Graham Gooch
6 – Michael Vaughan
5 – Kevin Pietersen
5 – Andrew Strauss
Most 100s for England in Tests
34 – Joe Root*
33 – Alastair Cook
23 – Kevin Pietersen
22 – Geoff Boycott
Number of Test centuries since 2021
Joe Root - 17 in 48 Tests*
Kohli, Smith & Williamson - 17 in 78 Tests
Fastest century for Joe Root in Tests
111 balls vs SL, Lord’s, 2024*
116 balls vs NZ, Nottingham, 2022
118 balls vs AUS, Cardiff, 2015
120 balls vs SL, Pallekele, 2018
124 balls vs IND, Leeds, 2021
Hundreds in each innings in a Test match at Lord's
George Headley - 106 & 107 vs WI, 1939
Graham Gooch - 333 & 123 vs IND, 1989
Michael Vaughan - 103 & 101* vs WI, 2004
Joe Root - 143 & 103 vs SL, 2024*
Players to score a century in each innings of a Test match vs SL
Andrew Jones (NZ) - 122 & 100*, Hamilton, 1991
Wajahatullah Wasti (PAK) - 133 & 121*, Lahore, 1999
Brian Lara (WI) - 221 & 133, Colombo, 2001
Matthew Hayden (AUS) - 117 & 132, Cairns, 2004
Mominul Haque (BAN) - 177 & 105, Chattogram, 2018
Joe Root (ENG) - 143 & 103, Lord's, 2024*
You thought the fun was done? We have a few more records that will blow your mind!
Joe Root's century split in Tests
First 17 centuries - 97 Tests
Last 17 centuries - 48 Tests*
Players with exactly 34 centuries in Tests
Sunil Gavaskar, Mahela Jayawardene, Brian Lara, Younis Khan, Joe Root*
Quite a club to be in, eh? The greatest English Test batter in history for a reason.
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