England cricket team captain Joe Root on Saturday equalled his counterpart Virat Kohli’s record of scoring the most number of 150-plus scores in Test cricket among active players.
The 30-year-old cricketer now has 10 such figures to his name alongside Team India captain Kohli.
Root continued his scintillating form as he crossed another 150-run mark against India on the second day of the ongoing first Test at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
1⃣5⃣0⃣ up for Joe Root!
A double century on the cards for the England skipper?#INDvENG | https://t.co/gnj5x4GOos pic.twitter.com/4unnuv0GUj
— ICC (@ICC) February 6, 2021
The England skipper also became only the second captain to smash three consecutive 150-plus scores after Australia cricket legend Sir Don Bradman. He had registered scores of 228 and 186 in his previous two Tests in Sri Lanka.
Interestingly, Root is the seventh batsman to record 150-plus scores in three consecutive Tests as he joins an elite list that has Tom Latham, Kumar Sangakkara (4 consecutive Tests), Mudassar Nazar, Zaheer Abbas, Don Bradman and Wally Hammond.
STAT ALERT: Joe Root is the 7th player to make 150+ in three consecutive Tests:
Previously:
Tom Latham 2018-19
Kumar Sangakkara (4 consecutive Tests) 2007
Mudassar Nazar & Zaheer Abbas (in the same 1982-83 series)
Don Bradman 1936-37
Wally Hammond 1928-29.#INDvENG— Andy Zaltzman (@ZaltzCricket) February 6, 2021
The right-handed batsman is now only behind former captain Alastair Cook among English cricketers, who accumulated the most number of 150-plus scores in red-ball cricket. Cook had registered 11 scores of 150 or more in Test cricket.
Meanwhile, Root and his deputy Ben Stokes have put England in a commanding position against India in the first Test of the four-match series in Chennai. The duo stitched a 124-run partnership to post 355 for 3 at lunch on Day 2. Root was batting on 156 at the break in his 100th Test while Stokes was unbeaten on 63.
Feature image courtesy: DAVID GRAY / AFP
