Joe Root surpasses Ricky Ponting to become 2nd highest run-scorer in Test history; trails Sachin Tendulkar by...

Joe Root has inscribed his name in the annals of cricket history by scoring 121 runs in the first innings of the fourth Test against India at Old Trafford, Manchester. This performance allowed Root to eclipse Ricky Ponting’s record of 13,378 Test runs, making him the second-highest run-scorer in Test cricket. In this innings, he also surpassed the legendary Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid. The England star now ranks just behind Sachin Tendulkar on the all-time Test run-scorers list who he now trails by 1,911 runs.

Additionally, this marked Root’s 38th Test century. With this achievement, he joined Ponting, Kallis, and Mahela Jayawardene as the players with the most centuries scored at home in the history of Test cricket. He also holds the record for the most centuries for England, and during the third Test at Lord’s, he overtook Dravid for the most catches in Test cricket history.

The new list of the top five reads:

Sachin Tendulkar - 15,921

Joe Root - 13,380*

Ricky Ponting - 13,378

Jacques Kallis - 13,289

Rahul Dravid - 13,288

In the same innings, Root also moved ahead of Ponting in the ranking for the most 50+ scores in Tests. Like many other records, only Tendulkar stands ahead of him in this category.

Joe Root also reached a significant milestone in the World Test Championship (WTC) during his innings at Old Trafford. He became the first player globally to hit 600 fours in the WTC. Root has consistently been the top performer in the Test championship and is the sole player to have amassed over 5000 runs. In fact, he is merely 85 runs shy of being the first player in the world to achieve 6000 runs in the WTC.

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