Joe Root owns these prestigious feats in World Test Championship
Veteran England batter Joe Root hammered a recork-breaking 262 in the Test series opener against Pakistan at the Multan Cricket Stadium. During the course of his knock, the batting talisman also became the first batter to complete 5,000 runs in the ICC World Test Championship history. This was his 17th century in the competition's history. Here we look at his stellar feats in WTC.
Most runs in WTC
As mentioned, Root became the first batter to complete 5,000 (now 5,235) WTC runs. Playing his 59th match, Root boasts an average of 53.41. He has slammed 20 half-centuries in addition to smashing 17 tons. No other batter has even touched the 4,000-run mark in the competition. Australia's Marnus Labuschagne (3,904) is the only other batter with over 3,500 WTC runs.
Root also owns the most WTC tons
Root's tally of 17 centuries is also the most for a batter in WTC. Labuschagne (11) and New Zealand's Kane Williamson (10) are the only batters to touch the 10-century mark in this regard. With seven tons, Ben Stokes trails Root among Englishmen. This shows that Root is way ahead of his contemporaries. He is also the most capped player in WTC (59).
Over 1,500 runs in all three editions
During his double-ton against Pakistan, Root became the first batter to score 1,500-plus runs in all three WTC editions. With 1,660 runs at 47.42, Root was the second-highest run-getter in the inaugural WTC edition (2019-21). Root amassed 1,915 runs in the 2021-23 cycle as he finished as the highest run-getter. No other player has touched the 1,300-run mark in the ongoing edition.
Second-most WTC double-tons
Each of Root's three WTC double-tons have come away from home. Pakistan's Multan, India's Chennai, and Sri Lanka's Galle have been the venues. No other batter owns multiple away double-centuries in WTC. Meanwhile, Williamson (4) is the only batter with more WTC double-hundreds than Root. Harry Brook and Zak Crawley are the other England batters with individual 200-plus scores in WTC.
Fourth-highest individual score in WTC history
Root's 262 off 375 balls is now the fourth-highest individual score in WTC history. He is only behind Australia's David Warner (335* in Sydney, 2019), Brook (317 in Multan, 2014), and Crawley (267 in Southampton, 2020). Interestingly, all these four knocks have come against Pakistan. Brook's triple-hundred came in the same Multan Test, which witnessed Root's 262.
