Joe Root Joins Rahul Dravid In Elite List, Becomes 4th Cricketer In The World To...

Joe Root is in the form of his life these days. The 33-year-old English batter scored centuries in both innings of the ongoing second Test against Sri Lanka to become the first English batter to score 34 centuries in Test cricket. After achieving the massive record, he then joined former Indian captain and head coach Rahul Dravid in an elite list of cricketers. The former England Test captain became only the fourth player in the world to take 200 catches in Test cricket after he completed the catches of Nishan Madushka and Pathum Nissanka in the third session of the third day’s play.

Dravid, who retired from international cricket in 2012, holds the record for taking most catches in Tests. He completed 210 catches in 164 Tests for India. Dravid is followed by former Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene (205 catches in 149 Tests). Root is joint-third in the list with 200 catches. Former South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis also completed 200 catches in Tests during his playing days.

Most catches in Tests

• Rahul Dravid (India) – 210
• Mahela Jaywardene (Sri Lanka) – 205
• Joe Root (England) – 200
• Jacques Kallis (South Africa) – 200
• Ricky Ponting (Australia) – 196

The world No. 1 Test batter top-scored for England in both innings of the ongoing second Test against Sri Lanka at the Lord’s. The 103-run knock in the second innings helped him break former skipper Alastair Cook’s record of 33 centuries in Tests for England. Root, who succeeded Cook as England’s Test captain and is only behind him in the list of leading run scorers in Tests for England, also became the first England cricketer in history to score 50 centuries in international cricket.

Apart from the 34 Test hundreds, he has 16 centuries in ODIs to his name.

Root breaks Gooch’s record

The 103-run knock in the second innings of the second Test also helped Root break former England’s Test captain Graham Gooch’s record of most runs by any batter in Tests at Lord’s. Gooch scored 2015 for England in red-ball matches played at the iconic venue, whereas Root now has 2021 runs to his name.

In addition to that, the right-handed batter also moved to the No. 1 position in the list of batters with most Test 100s at the Home of Cricket. He has scored seven Test centuries at Lord’s, whereas Gooch and Michael Vaughan are joint second with six centuries each.