Joe Root on verge of breaking major Sachin Tendulkar record in India vs England Tests
Seasoned batter Joe Root is on the verge of breaking a huge record heading into the India vs England Test series, which begins at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday, January 25. The 33-year-old needs only 10 runs to become the leading run-getter in India vs England Test matches.
Tendulkar is currently the leading run-getter in India vs England Tests, with 2,535 runs in 32 matches at an average of 51.73. He has notched up seven hundreds and 13 fifties in Test matches against England. As for Root, he has 2,526 runs to his name from 25 matches against India at an average of 63.15, with nine hundreds and 10 half-centuries.
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar is third on the list among batters with most runs in India vs England Test matches. In 38 matches, he scored 2,483 runs at an average of 38.20, which included four hundreds and 16 fifties.
Gavaskar is followed by former England skipper Alastair Cook, who compiled 2,431 runs in 30 Test matches against India at an average of 47.66. Cook struck seven tons and nine fifties against India, with a best score of 294.
Virat Kohli, who will miss the first two Tests of the upcoming series against England due to personal reasons, completes the top five in the illustrious list. The 35-year-old has 1,991 runs to his name from 28 matches, averaging 42.36, with five hundreds and nine fifties.
Joe Root’s record in Test matches in India
Root has an impressive record in Tests in India. In 10 matches, he has scored 952 runs at an average of 50.10, with two hundreds.
The right-handed batter scored 93 runs in the one Test match he played during the 2012 tour. He hit 491 runs in five Tests at an average of 49.10, with one hundred, during England's tour of India in 2016. Root scored 124 in Rajkot, 53 in Visakhapatnam, 78 in Mohali, 77 in Mumbai, and 88 in Chennai.
He was the captain of the team that visited India in 2021 for four Tests. Root contributed 368 runs at an average of 46. The batter began the tour in prolific fashion, with a brilliant 218 in Chennai. However, he lost momentum after that and registered a highest score of 40 in the remaining three matches.
Root shone with the ball in the Day-Night Test in Ahmedabad during the 2021 tour. He registered incredible figures of 5/8 in India’s first innings. However, the hosts went on to win the low-scoring Test by 10 wickets.