Joe Root overtakes Dravid, Kallis to become third-highest Test run scorer

MANCHESTER: England batting maestro Joe Root on Friday shattered multiple records in the fourth Test against India, surpassing legends Rahul Dravid, Ricky Ponting, and Jacques Kallis here at Old Trafford.

The 34-year-old achieved the feat in the space of two balls in the 56th and 57th overs, respectively.  First, he tucked down the fourth delivery to deep third to go past Dravid and level with Kallis.

On the first ball of the next over, he pushed the ball to the covers to topple Jacques Kallis’ record in Test cricket. In doing so, he became the third-highest run scorer in the longest form of the game.

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With this milestone, Root now trails only Australia’s Ricky Ponting and India’s Sachin Tendulkar in the all-time runs charts.

Most Career Runs in Test Matches

Sachin Tendulkar (IND) – 15921 runs

Ricky Ponting (AUS) – 13378

Joe Root (ENG) – 13357*

Jacques Kallis (SA) – 13289

Rahul Dravid (IND) – 13288

Along with runs tally, Joe Root also moved up to second on the list of the most half-centuries in Test cricket. His knock pushed him past Ponting’s and Kallis, placing him second only to Tendulkar in terms of half-centuries.

Most 50-plus scores in Test cricket

119 – Sachin Tendulkar
104 – Joe Root
103 – Ricky Ponting
103 – Jacques Kallis
99 – Rahul Dravid

At the time of filing this story, England were in a commanding position at 383-4, just 25 runs behind India’s first innings total. Joe Root is eyeing another century, currently not out on 95, while Ben Stokes is batting on 14*.

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