Joe Root wrote himself into history books after scoring 120 runs in the first innings of the fourth Test against India at Old Trafford, Manchester. The knock helped Root overtake Ricky Ponting’s 13,378 Test runs to become the second-highest Test run-scorer. In the same innings, he also surpassed legends Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid. The England ace now lags behind only Sachin Tendulkar in the overall list of leading run-scorers in Tests.
Root Equals Century Records and Breaks More Milestones
It was also Root’s 38th century in Tests. With it, he equaled Ponting, Kallis and Mahela Jayawardene for most hundreds at home in History of Test cricket. He is also the record holder of most centuries by the Three Lions, and in the third Test at Lord’s, he also broke Dravid’s record for the most catches in Test cricket history.
In the same match, Root also overtook Ponting in the number of 50+ scores in Tests. Similar to numerous other records, just Tendulkar is above him on the list.
The Indian bowlers were unable to cause any harm to England on Day 3 of the Test. Following Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett’s blistering start, Ollie Pope and Root carried on the business and kept the scoreboard rolling. Following Pope’s return for 71 runs, captain Ben Stokes led on the business and was impeccable in the middle.
Captaincy Decisions and Injuries Hurt India
But Gill’s captaincy and injuries also have to be blamed. India were reluctant to introduce spinners early on Day 3, which has to be analyzed. As soon as Washington Sundar was brought in, the off-spinner snapped two. So the question remains that why wasn’t he brought in sooner?
Conversely, as soon as the visitors decided to use the new ball, Bumrah reported an injury and shortly after that, Mohammed Siraj also walked off. Shardul Thakur and Anshul Kamboj were left in the lurch but couldn’t pose any danger with the new ball.
