Joe Root enters elite club with record-breaking century against India

Joe Root broke multiple records after registering his 37th Test ton on the first ball of Day 2 with a boundary of Jasprit Bumrah after being unbeaten on 99 overnight.

With the century, Root now enters the list of top five most Test centuries, going past Indian legend Rahul Dravid and Australian batter Steve Smith.

This was also Root's third consecutive ton at the Lord's Cricket Ground, with his last His last three scores reading 143, 103, and 104, making him only the third batter in history to notch three consecutive centuries at the venue, alongside legends Jack Hobbs (1912–26) and Michael Vaughan (2004–05).


He now has scored the most runs by any batter at Lord's across all formats, amassing 2531 runs in 33 matches. Root surpassed Graham Gooch, who previously held the record with 2513 runs.

Root also strengthened his record against India, reaching his 11th Test hundred against them, the joint-most against India alongside Smith. It took Root 60 innings to reach the mark, while Australian did it in just 46.

The batter's knock also marked his 103rd fifty-plus score in Test cricket, comprising 37 centuries and 66 fifties putting him joint second on the all-time list alongside Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting. The trio trails only Sachin Tendulkar, who leads with 119 fifty-plus scores in Test matches.

In addition to his feats at Lord's, Root reached another historic milestone, becoming the first player in the history of Test cricket to score 3000 runs against India. He now has 3054 runs in 33 Tests against India, including 10 centuries, and becomes only the third batter to achieve more than 3000 runs in a non-Ashes Test rivalry. The other two are Gary Sobers, who scored 3214 runs against England, and Sachin Tendulkar, who racked up 3630 runs against Australia.

Most Test centuries

Sachin Tendulkar: 51
Jacques Kallis: 46
Ricky Ponting: 41
Kumar Sangakkara: 38
Joe Root: 37