World No. 1 Test batter Joe Root scored his 35th Test century for England on Wednesday (October 9). He achieved the feat during the third day’s play of the ongoing first Test against Pakistan at Multan Cricket Stadium. The 33-year-old batter crossed the triple-figure mark with a single on the second ball of the 63rd over of the England first innings.
Root’s 35th Test century helped him break Sunil Gavaskar, Brian Lara, Mahela Jayawardene, and Younis Khan’s record of 34 centuries each and take the No. 6 position in the list of batters with the most 100s in Test cricket.
Sachin Tendulkar holds the record for scoring most 100s in Test cricket. In 200 matches for the Indian team during his 24-year-long international career, he scored 51 centuries. South Africa’s Jacques Kallis is second on the list with 45 centuries and is followed by Australia’s Ricky Ponting (41), Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara (38) and India’s Rahul Dravid (36).
Most 100s in Tests
- Sachin Tendulkar (India) – 51
- Jacques Kallis (South Africa) – 45
- Ricky Ponting (Australia) – 41
- Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) – 38
- Rahul Dravid (India) – 36
- Joe Root (England) – 35
- Younis Khan (Pakistan) – 34
- Sunil Gavaskar (India) – 34
- Brian Lara (West Indies) – 34
- Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka) – 34
The century against Pakistan in the first innings of the first Test also helped him equal Sri Lankan batter Kamindu Mendis’ record of scoring five Test centuries in 2024. England’s Ollie Pope, India’s Shubman Gill, and New Zealand’s Kane Williamson have scored three centuries each so far this year.
Most Test 100s in 2024
- Joe Root (England) – 5
- Kamindu Mendis (Sri Lanka) – 5
- Kane Williamson (New Zealand) – 3
- Shubman Gill (India) – 3
- Ollie Pope (England) – 3
Earlier during the first session of the third day’s play, Root broke Alastair Cook’s record to become England’s leading run scorer in Test cricket. Cook amassed a total of 12,472 runs in 161 Tests for England during his 12-year-long career, whereas Root has 12,502 runs to his name in 147 matches played so far.
Most runs for England in Tests
- Joe Root – 12,502*
- Alastair Cook – 12,472
- Graham Gooch – 8900
- Alec Stewart – 8463
- David Gower – 8231
By overtaking Cook’s tally, Root has also become the fifth-leading run scorer in Test cricket.
The right-handed batter, who stepped from England’s captaincy in April 2022, is the all-time leading run scorer in World Test Championship history, and on Tuesday, he became the first batter to score 5000 runs in the tournament’s history.
Apart from being the leading run scorer in WTC, Root also holds the record for playing most matches and scoring most 100s.
Root would like to convert his century into a big one now and help England cancel out Pakistan’s hopes of taking a big lead in the first innings.
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