How Joe Root compares to greats after moving second on list of Test run-scorers

South Wales Argus

2 days ago

Here, the PA news agency looks at how he compares to the greats of the game.
Climbing the ranks
One more rung to climb… 🪜 pic.twitter.com/hHEt41Lufe
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 25, 2025
– Root climbed from fifth at the start of the Old Trafford Test to second as his score of 150 took him past India great Rahul Dravid, former South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis and ex-Australia captain Ricky Ponting – who hailed Root as 'magnificent' while commentating for Sky Sports.
– Sachin Tendulkar's 15,921 runs remains the all-time Test record, with Root now 2,512 behind on 13,409.
– Sir Alastair Cook, whose England record of 12,472 Root passed last year, ranks sixth on the list.
– The top 10 is completed by Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara, West Indies pair Brian Lara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Sangakkara's long-time team-mate Mahela Jayawardene.
– Fifteen men in all have passed 10,000 runs in Test cricket, with Australian trio Allan Border, Steve Waugh and Steve Smith, India's Sunil Gavaskar and Pakistan's Younis Khan, with 10,099, rounding out that group. New Zealand's Kane Williamson, on 9,276, is the nearest active player outside that mark.
Root's record
Root has been a consistent presence in England's top order (Nick Potts/PA)
– Root has 13,409 Test runs at an average of 51.18, in 157 matches and 286 innings.
– He made his Test debut in 2012, scoring 73 against India in his first innings.
– The first of his England-record 38 centuries came the following year against New Zealand. His 66 half-centuries are also the most for his country.
– Root's most prolific year brought him 1,708 Test runs in 2021 at an average of 61 – though his best average for a single year is 97.13 in 2014, helped by unbeaten scores of 200 against Sri Lanka and 154 and 149 against India.
– He has more runs against India than any other nation, 3,249 in 34 Tests, with Friday's effort his 12th ton against them. He has over 1,000 runs against every opponent bar Bangladesh and Ireland, against whom he has played just two Tests each, and Zimbabwe (one).
– Over 8,000 of Root's runs have been made in his customary number four position, where he averages 52.11. His best average by position is 61.05 at number five while his career-best score of 262 was made at number three, against Pakistan last year.
– Earlier in the series against India, he also set a world record with his 211th Test catch, passing Dravid at the top of that list.