Joe Root going through a sensational form in test cricket. The English batter has scored yet another hundred in the longest format of the game. It was his 33rd Test century as he equals the record of former England captain Sir Alastair Cook. The former came into bat when the team was struggling with the score of 42/2 in the ongoing test series against Sri Lanka.
The 32-year-old batter dedicated his 33rd hundred to the late Graham Thorpe. The latter died a few weeks back. There has been a special connection with the former English captain. The modern batter has reached his best of levels under the guidance of Thorpe. They discovered a strong bond over a decade while he was there as a batting coach for the team. No modern-era batter has as many hundreds in the test cricket.
Root has entered the top 10 list of most test runs by a batter in the red-ball format of the game. He currently is 7th on the list with 12274 runs 198 runs away from equalling the record for the most test runs by an English batter. Alastair Cook has 12472 runs in 161 matches for the Three Lions. Under Bazball it might take the second innings and the third test to surpass his former captain.
Virat Kohli is not the best in red-ball format
Does this make Joe Root the greatest-ever test batter of the modern era and Virat Kohli nothing but just overhyped in Test cricket? Comparing the two modern-day greats is always a tough task both have achieved milestones in different formats of the game. Root cannot be near Kohli in one-day cricket as the former India captain is the best in the white ball format. However, calling Kohli overhyped or overrated might also be foolish.
The nearer to Root’s centuries record is the veteran India batter. He has 29 centuries to his name in the longest format of the game. There have been scratchy forms for the batter in the toughest format of the game. But the fans and former cricketers must not forget Kohli’s innumerable records in test cricket. Over 8000 test runs are not funny it has been done with pure dedication. Both batters have mutual respect.
