Shortly after hitting the 5th highest ODI score for England, Joe Root is on the brink of breaking another record in Tests
Joe Root’s 29 off 60 balls in Hyderabad, in January 2024, didn’t make a significant difference to the scorecard. His contribution didn’t help arrest England’s batting collapse in the face of an outstanding new ball performance from Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
It took a brisk 70 from Ben Stokes for England to reach a first-innings total of 246. However, Root’s contribution made an impact on the record books. The former England captain’s tally shot him past Sachin Tendulkar to become the highest run-scorer in India-England Test cricket matches.
After the innings, Root had 2553 runs in 26 matches compared to Sachin’s 2535 in 32 outings against England. In the match, Root also claimed another major record as he became the first batter ever to score 4000 runs in World Test Championship (WTC) encounters. Over a year later, Root is closing in on another record in the meetings between the two sides.
Most runs in England vs India Tests
When it comes to England-India bilateral matches, Douglas Jardine set the bar in February 1934. The England captain scored 100 runs across two innings, a wonderful 65, his fifth and final half-century against India in the first innings, and an unbeaten 35 in the third innings. Those runs took his tally against India to 385 runs in six innings.
It took 12 years for anyone to reach the 500-run mark in Tests between the two countries. Wally Hammond was the first to reach that tally when he scored a 69 in the first innings of their Test in July 1946. Vijay Merchant’s patient 78 off 170 in the second innings made him the second batter to reach that milestone.
Since then, 78 more batters have scored 500 or more runs in the series between the two countries. From that lot, only 28 have gone past the 1000-run mark, while only four have breached the 2000-run point. The recently retired Virat Kohli could have been the fifth, but he stepped down from the format nine runs shy of the milestone. He finished his Test career with 1991 runs against England.
Most runs in India vs England Tests
Of the batters with more than 2000 runs in the series, Alastair Cook has the least with 2431. He is behind Sunil Gavaskar, who scored 2483 runs against England. Sachin Tendulkar held the record for the most runs in the bilateral series with 2535 runs in 32 Tests. Leading the way is Root with 2846 runs in 30 Tests, and he is closing in on becoming the first batter to reach 3000 runs in the meeting between the two sides.
Root needs 155 runs to reach the milestone, and if his record against the Asian giants is anything to go by, he has a shot at the landmark in the upcoming five-match series. The Englishman has a brilliant record against India. He has 10 hundreds, the most by anyone in matches between England and India. His 11 half-centuries are the fifth-most by any batter in the two sides’ history.
India is the former England captain’s third-best opposition to face. He is imperious when facing Sri Lanka, against whom he scores a 100 every two matches or four innings. Root registers a century against the West Indies every three matches or five innings, and India is not far behind. He reaches a ton every three matches or six innings.
