Joe Root in the Pantheon: What 41 Test centuries say about his place in sports history

Joe Root equalled Ricky Ponting with 41st Ton (Source: AFP) 

The veteran England batter Joe Root achieved another historic milestone in his illustrious 13-year Test career. It happened when Joe Root scored his 41st Test ton, on the second day of the fifth and last Ashes Test against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground. 

With this century, Root joined the former Aussie batting great, Ricky Ponting, in the third spot among the batters with most Test centuries. Now, he is just four centuries away from the former legendary South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis, who scored 45 tons in his glorious career. 

Apart from the century milestone, Joe Root, with 13,937 runs after the 160-run knock at SCG, has also narrowed the gap with the former India legend Sachin Tendulkar (15,921 runs). The England batter is now just 1,984 runs away from being the leading run-scorer of all time in Test history. 

That said, here’s a look at an analysis of the question of whether Joe Root has made it to the Pantheon of the Test greatness. It will be followed by finding the answer to the question: “What does his 41 Test tons and 13,937 Test runs say about his place in history?” 

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The impactful presence among leading run-scorers

If the tally of leading run-scores in Tests is to be divided into two segments, i.e., the overall leading run-scorers and leading run-scorers in the winning cause, Joe Root is nearing the greatness in both the parameters. He is second to the former greats like Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting, respectively, in both the lists. 

The 35-year-old has also established himself as England’s biggest match-winning Test batter of all time, alongside being their leading run-scorer of all time. 

Leading run-scorers of all time in Tests 

Joe Root’s Sydney ton was a step closer to him being the leading run-scorer of all time, by surpassing Sachin Tendulkar, as the difference is less than 2000 runs. At the time of getting caught and bowled by Michael Neser after scoring 160 runs in SCG Test, Root had scored 13,937 runs in 297 innings, with an average of 51.23, hitting 41 centuries and 66 half-centuries. 

He follows Sachin Tendulkar, who ended his Test career with 15,921 runs in 329 innings across his 200-Test career, with 51 centuries and 68 half-centuries. Besides narrowing the gap between Test runs with Sachin, Root is just two half-centuries away from equalling the former’s record of most Test half-centuries. 

In the list of leading run-scorers in Tests, Root is followed by the retired batting legends, including the likes of Ricky Ponting (13,378 runs), Jacques Kallis (13,289 runs), and Rahul Dravid (13,288 runs), respectively.  

Leading run-scorers in Tests in the winning cause

Furthermore, what makes Joe Root’s legacy legendary is the impact of the runs he has scored throughout his Test career. It can be underscored by the fact that 7,239 runs out of his 13,937 Test runs have helped England win the games. 

Root (7,239 runs) is in the second spot following the former Aussie batting maestro, Ricky Ponting (9,151), among the leading Test run-scorers in the winning cause. Root is further followed by two more Aussie greats, including former Aussie skipper Steve Waugh and Steve Smith. Waugh and Smith have 6,460 and 6,384 Test runs, respectively, in the winning cause.

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The efficient tons in the longest format of the game 

Apart from proving his mettle among the leading run-scorers of all time in Tests, the efficiency of Root’s centuries also makes his case strong as one of the all-time batting greats. 

Joe Root is currently the joint third batter, alongside Ricky Ponting, with the most Test centuries in the history. He is now just four centuries behind Jacques Kallis’ 45 tons and 10 behind Sachin’s 51 hundreds. Root already surpassed former Sri Lanka legend Kumar Sangakkara (38 centuries) and former India great, Rahul Dravid (36 centuries). 

Batters with the most Test centuries, alongside result-wise 

Alongside being one of the top three batters with the most Test centuries, Root has also showcased how efficient his centuries have been for England. He is in the second spot, following Ricky Ponting in the list of the batters with the most Test centuries in the winning cause. 

Ponting scored 30 out of his 41 hundreds in the winning cause for Australia, followed closely by Joe Root with 26 out of his 41 tons in England's wins. It shows that Root is second batter with most efficient Test centuries among the players with the most Test centuries of all time. 

The rise of Test great in a white-ball dominated era

What makes Joe Root eligible to be a part of this pantheon that includes the all-time batting greats in Tests is his ability to establish himself as a Test great in the modern-day cricket. It also adds a positive note to his cricketing CV that he 'excelled and thrived as a modern-day legend in the Tests amidst the dominance of white-ball cricket in his international career’. 

In the modern times, when T20 franchise leagues are taking over the dynamics of cricket, Joe Root’s rise as a Test legend is something that can’t be ignored even by his critics. 

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