If the current trajectory continues, Joe Root has a significant chance of overtaking Sachin Tendulkar’s long-standing “Most Runs in Test Cricket” record. There are 2 prime reasons for it: (1) Joe’s form in Test Cricket over the past 4 years. (2) The amount of Test Cricket England plays.

 

A few weeks back, when I praised Joe Root for his 35th Test Century (1st Test, ENG in PAK, 2024), a friend called him a “Flat-Track Bully” … It set me thinking and inspired me to do a deeper look at Joe Root’s accomplishments in Test Cricket.

Following are the details of my analysis. The problem with focusing primarily on 100s is that you tend to lose track of match-winning or high-impact non-100/century innings. If I have to include details on all such match-winning or high-impact innings as well, I have to take up “Cricket Statistics” as my full-time job 😊

Summary:
Total Test Centuries: 35
Centuries at Home (UK): 21
Centuries Away: 14
Centuries against various opponents (Only original ICC full-time members are considered. I.e. Newbies AFG and IRE are not considered):
IND: 10
WI: 6
SL: 6
NZ: 5
AUS: 4
SA: 2
PAK: 2
ZIM: 0
BAN: 0

How does Joe’s percentage of centuries away from home stack up with peers and some of the former Test Greats?
Note: Let us not discount the fact that England, with its perpetually overcast conditions and wild Swing, is one of the toughest places to play Cricket in. The fact that Joe is from England should not negatively impact him in the sense that a lot of his runs came “At home” (England). Very few greats have been able to consistently conquer Swing bowling.

Joe Root: 40%
Sachin Tendulkar: 57%
Brian Lara: 50%
Rahul Dravid: 58%
Jacques Kallis: 44%
Ricky Ponting: 39%
Steve Smith: 47%
Kane Williamson: 34%
Virat Kohli: 52%

SUMMARY: Not that great. Only Ricky and Kane does worse.

How many of Joe’s 100s resulted in wins?
Note: Modern game has moved away from Draws and Test Matches are nowadays way more result-oriented.
Note: Both Sachin and Brian spent a lot of time in very mediocre teams, which rarely won despite their best efforts. On the flip side, someone like Ricky had a distinct advantage in this regard. Please keep in mind that we are talking of the impact their 100s made, so it should not matter that much if others also contributed to the same wins.

Joe Root: 69%
Sachin Tendulkar: 39%
Brian Lara: 24%
Rahul Dravid: 42%
Jacques Kallis: 49%
Ricky Ponting: 73%
Steve Smith: 67%
Kane Williamson: 66%
Virat Kohli: 45%

SUMMARY: Joe is fantastic in this regard. Only Ricky has a better record.

Has Joe scored 100s or 50s in really tough conditions where others in the same match struggled?

Only Century in the Test Match: 11/35
Only Century for ENG in the Test Match: 17/35
Only Century in the Innings: 25/35
No other player with a Half-Century (Test Match): None
No other ENG player with a Half-Century (Test Match): 1/35
No other ENG player with a Half-Century (Innings): 3/35

SUMMARY: Not the greatest. Not that terrible either. 25 (Out of 35) times, he was the only centurion in that innings.

How many of Joe’s 100s have come in SENA, compared to other greats like SRT/RD/Etc. I.e. How many 100s have come in “Alien” conditions.
For Joe Root, it is SANA (SA, Asia (IND/SL), NZ & AUS).
For Sachin Tendulkar, it is SENA.
For Brian Lara, it is SENAA (Including Asia (IND/SL)).
For Rahul Dravid, it is SENA.
For Jacques Kallis, it is ENAA (Including Asia (IND/SL)).
For Ricky Ponting, it is SENA (Asia (IND/SL). Since NZ has considerable more Swinging conditions (As opposed to just Seam and Bounce), keeping the neighboring NZ as is).
For Steve Smith, it is SENA (Asia (IND/SL). Since NZ has considerable more Swinging conditions (As opposed to just Seam and Bounce), keeping the neighboring NZ as is).
For Kane Williamson, it is SEAA (Including Asia (IND/SL). Since AUS has considerable more Seaming and Bouncy conditions (As opposed to Swing), keeping the neighboring AUS as is).
For Virat Kohli, it is SENA.

Note: Am not counting PAK and BAN as a lot of the times their pitches were too batsman-friendly (And to boot, for many years PAK played out of the featherbeds in UAE 😊)..

Joe Root: 29%
Sachin Tendulkar: 33%
Brian Lara: 41%
Rahul Dravid: 28%
Jacques Kallis: 24%
Ricky Ponting: 24%
Steve Smith: 44%
Kane Williamson: 16%
Virat Kohli: 38%

SUMMARY: Not bad. Somewhere in the middle of the curve.

Seam. Swing. Bounce. Spin.

These are the 4 typical challenges batsmen have to deal with in Test Cricket.
Conditions vary from Johannesburg (IND in SA, 3rd Test, 2018) with wild Seam/Bounce/Swing (Where the pitch got rated “Poor” by ICC) to Pune (AUS in IND, 1st Test, 2017) with a square turning pitch (Where again, the pitch came under ICC’s scrutiny).

How many of Joe’s 100s have come against “Tough Teams” (SA/AUS/IND(Excluding “IND in ENG” during 2011-2014, where IND was pathetic)/NZ/SL-in-SL)

22/35.

I.e. 63%.

Not bad 😊

Which are Joe Root’s greatest 100s (IMHO)

228 against SL in SL (Galle, 2021):
More than 50% of the team’s 421 in 1st innings. 6 single-digit scores in that innings. Dan Lawrence, Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler offered support.
ENG won by 7 wickets.

218 against IND in IND (Chennai, 2021):
Against a very good team, in their backyard. ENG started the tour with a bang and then everything went south 😊
ENG won by 227 runs.

110 against SA in SA (Johannesburg, 2016):
Only century in the match.
Against the then No:1 Test Team.

 

Adios!