Joe Root becomes 15th Englishman to play 100 Tests

England captain Joe Root has become the 15th cricketer from the country to play 100 Test matches as his side take on hosts India in the first Test at Chennai. He also becomes the 68th cricketer in the sport’s history to reach the mark.

Joe Root made a lucky start to his milestone Test, winning the toss and electing to bat.

Coincidentally, Joe Root made his Test debut in India and also played his 50th Test in the country. During England’s victorious 2012-13 tour of India, Joe Root made his debut in the final Test at Nagpur and former England captain Paul Collingwood had presented him with the Test cap. The Test that ended in a draw also marked the debut of India’s Ravindra Jadeja.

The captain walks out for the toss in his 100th Test match for England! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿Live Scorecard: https://t.co/gEBlUSOuYe#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/RV5zgyFZf7

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) February 5, 2021

Joe Root went on to play his 50th Test at Visakhapatnam during England’s disastrous tour of India in the 2016-17 season. England suffered a 246-run defeat in that Test and lost the series 0-4.

The 30-year-old has been in prolific form, slamming back-to-back centuries in Sri Lanka. Regarded as one of the finest batsmen in the world, Joe Root averages over 54 in Asia.

Training hard and enjoying our preparation here in India 🔫 pic.twitter.com/T5eoEKh57a

— Joe Root (@root66) February 3, 2021

Trivia: Joe Root, in Test cricket, averages 60.8 and 83.7 against Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin respectively.

Joe Root: Fourth-highest run-getter for England in Tests

With 8,249 runs at an average of 49.39, Joe Root is the fourth-highest run-getter for England in Test cricket behind Alastair Cook (12,472 runs), Graham Gooch (8,900 runs) and Alec Stewart (8,463). Joe Root (15,104 runs) is only behind Cook (15,737) in terms of overall runs for England in international cricket.

We win the toss and will bat first! 🦁🦁🦁#INDvENG

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) February 5, 2021

Fellow Yorkshireman Geoffrey Boycott recently said that Joe Root has the potential to surpass Sachin Tendulkar’s Test runs and matches.

“Root is only 30. He has played 99 Tests and scored 8249 runs already. As long as he does not suffer serious injury there is no reason why he cannot beat Tendulkar’s all-time record of 15,921,” Boycott had said.

Sachin Tendulkar, who retired at the age of 40, is the only cricketer to have played 200 Tests. Whether Joe Root matches up to that number over the course of his career remains to be seen.