Joe Root becomes the highest century-maker for England in Tests surpassing Alastair Cook's 33 hundreds' record. What makes Joe Root so special in Tests?
Lord’s always becomes quite an exciting place for Test cricket on Saturdays. And one of their finest, Joe Root, was in the middle, eyeing a landmark that no England batter had touched. For a long time, he was trying to free his arms. But the Sri Lanka bowlers were smart enough to keep the ball away from his arc. Finally, he went back and punched Asitha Fernando through deep extra cover for a boundary to celebrate his 34th red-ball century.
The whole crowd erupted and stood on their feet. A historic three-figure put Root above all the England Test batters. It was also his fastest of the format, coming in just 111 deliveries, and that too without much risk. Yet he celebrated with his normal leap on the ground and soaked up the crowd's and teammates' applause.
He went past Sir Alastair Cook (33) regarding overall red-ball centuries. It was also his seventh Test hundred at Lord’s, the most among all the players, overtaking Graham Gooch and Michael Vaughan. With his 17th century in the last four years, he extends the margin from the ‘Fab Four’, a term the late Martin Crowe coined in 2014.
Root sprints away from Kohli, Williamson, and Smith since August 2020
During the start of his career, one of the biggest issues Root faced was not converting his starts into centuries. Since his debut (Dec 13, 2012) to the end of July 2020, the Yorkshire batter has managed 49 Test fifties and 17 centuries. There were moments when he used to get out quite frequently after going past his fifty.
In the same period, Virat Kohli smashed 25 centuries and 17 fifties, with 6452 Test runs in 73 innings. The average of 57.09 was quite incredible. Since England played the most number of Tests in a year, Root was the leading run-getter with 7729 runs in 94 games. But the average of 48.30 was quite ordinary in comparison.
Steve Smith notched up 26 centuries and 27 half-centuries in the duration, collecting 6968 runs in 68 Tests. The average of 65.73 was extraordinary. Kane Williamson wasn’t far away, with 5429 runs at an average of 57.14 and 18 centuries. At that point, the former England captain was far behind in the race. But for how long?
COVID-19 changed the whole equation. Since August 2020, Root has mostly focused on his centuries. He has become even more cautious after reaching his fifties. Apart from some of his crazy ‘Bazball’ innings, he has learnt to put a price tag on his wicket.
Comparison of ‘Fab Four’ Since Aug 2020
Player | Total Runs | Total 100s | Runs Since Aug 2020 | 100s since Aug 2020 |
Joe Root | 12377 | 34 | 4648 | 17 |
Steve Smith | 9658 | 32 | 2458 | 06 |
Kane Williamson | 8743 | 32 | 2267 | 11 |
Virat Kohli | 8848 | 29 | 1608 | 02 |
Proactive Joe carries the virtue of patience
There is a fine line between being proactive and aggressive. The former is quite vital in Test cricket and has equally been carried by the ‘Fab Four.’ It doesn’t take much time for Root to get off the mark, as he always looks to play his favourite shot—a tab on the third-man area. When there is a need to be patient against the bowler, Root is equally brilliant at the task.
During COVID-19, the veteran spoke about the importance of rotating the strike. He touched on the significance of balancing between rotation and defence.
“It’s about getting off the strike; I think that’s the really important thing—to rotate the strike, get down the other end,” the 33-year-old expressed in 2021. “Just rotate. We don’t need to necessarily go out and crush it to the boundary ropes once or twice an over, but it’s important to get the balance between scoring, defending, and managing certain passages of play.”
He walked by his words. In the same year at Galle, he carried England on his lone shoulders. In the first innings of the second Test at Galle, he smashed 186, while the next best was 55. Most of them were struggling against the left-arm spin of Lasith Embuldeniya. Just two weeks later, Root clubbed 218 runs in Chennai.
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Away from T20Is, Joe strengthens the ‘Root’ in Tests
Focussing on the longest format has helped him a lot. He doesn’t play a lot of T20s, with his last T20I coming in 2019. The Sheffield-born hasn’t been a regular member of the Indian Premier League (IPL). However, it’s quite amazing how he shifts his focus between the two formats. He was smashing the ball around the park in the Hundred 2024, and suddenly, with the change of ball, he got back into his groove.
With age on his side, Joe Root is going to add a few more centuries before putting the curtains down. And with the increase of T20 leagues, no other England batter is expected to get near him, let alone surpass him.
His focus, however, will remain on their Australia trip in late winter next year. Of all those places where he has played at least five Tests, Australia remains the only country where he is yet to celebrate a century. The average of 35.68 stays at the bottom. But there is a chance to better those records.
As per the next goal, Joe Root stands 96 runs away from edging past Cook in terms of most runs as an England batter. Kennington Oval, the venue for the third Sri Lanka Test, waits to witness the landmark.
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