The numbers behind Joe Root’s astonishing run of form

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Joe Root continued his astonishing run of form with 218 as England ended day two against India on 555 for eight.

The England captain has made two double hundreds and a 186 in three Tests in 2021, the 98th, 99th and 100th of his career.

Here, the PA news agency takes a statistical look at his sequence of scores.

644 – runs for Root in his last three Tests, following scores of 228, one, 186 and 11 against Sri Lanka last month.

England's top 10 Test run-scorers
Joe Root now trails only Sir Alastair Cook and Graham Gooch among England Test run-scorers (PA graphic)

8,467 – Root’s run total for his Test career, lifting him ahead of Alec Stewart into third on England’s all-time list.

50.39 – his average, which is over three runs higher than any other member of England’s top 10 run-scorers.

1,026 – balls faced by Root in his five innings so far in 2021.

1,543 – minutes at the crease, 74 per cent of the time England have been batting.

59 – boundaries hit by Root, 56 fours and three sixes.

128.80 – Root’s average in the five innings, with a strike rate of 62.77.

3,200 – Root has been batting or fielding for almost 3,200 minutes across the three Tests, less a short break while England were fielding in Sri Lanka. That is over 53 hours, and around 85 per cent of game time.

180 – Root became only the second batsman to make a score over 180 in three successive Tests. Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara made 200 not out and 222no against Bangladesh and then 192 against Australia in 2007, adding 152 against England in his next match for good measure.

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