On Tuesday, Ben Stokes felt the briefest of tributes to Joe Root was the most eloquent. “Sometimes less is more,” he argued. “I don’t need to say anything else except he’s just the absolute GOAT.” Three days later, Stokes was at the other end as Root put himself second in the all-time standings for Test match runs to the man many an Indian would describe as the greatest of all time, Sachin Tendulkar.
Root leapfrogged three legends in one day, leaving Rahul Dravid and Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting behind him. He already had a status as England’s finest ever Test batter – certainly their best in the last half-century – and now only one person in the history of the game has made more runs in this format.
Chasing down Tendulkar, still 2,512 ahead of him, will be no simple feat. Yet, England vice-captain Ollie Pope argued, it is not impossible. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he can chase him down,” he said. “I am sure if his body allows he will have the hunger.” Root has given himself a chance.
He has given England an opportunity to clinch the series against India, too, putting them in a commanding position, a score of 544-7 giving them a lead of 186. But one run among them brought a standing ovation: when he passed Ponting. This was a seismic achievement from a player with a habit of making history. “He is not a big one for landmarks but I think that is a pretty cool one,” added Pope.
There were others. Root already had more Test runs at Old Trafford than anyone else but he passed 1,000. Root already had more Test runs against India than anyone else but he added 150. Root already had more centuries against them than anyone else but he took his tally to 12, the last two in successive matches. A 38th Test ton put him alongside Kumar Sangakkara; this is the company he keeps on the leaderboards.
Fittingly, Ponting was on commentary as Root caressed a single to third man to get his 13,379th run. The Australian had travelled thousands of miles to see himself deposed from second spot. He was generous in his praise. “Just one more to go,” he said. “The way his career has gone over the last five years, there’s absolutely no reason why not.”
Ponting had a point. Since the start of 2021, Root has made 5,586 runs at 56.42 with 21 hundreds. It has taken him from the ranks of the very good to the great.
There can be a smiling ruthlessness to Root; a class, too. The shot that took him level with Dravid was a beautifully timed cover drive off his back foot. There was a serenity to Root, a capacity to make batting look natural. On days like this, he is England’s elegant accumulator, pressing home their advantage with an exercise in calm run-making. “He was pretty flawless,” added Pope. “The amount of runs he is scoring now is just amazing.”
Until Root was stumped off Ravindra Jadeja, Ollie Pope was a greater danger to him than the Indian bowlers. On 22, Root could have been run out by yards after Pope’s bad call but Jadeja missed the stumps.
Root then looked untroubled until, extracting bounce with the second new ball, Mohammed Siraj beat him on 98. He almost bowled him off his pads. Even a man with so many centuries may have been afflicted by the nervous nineties, albeit briefly.
It may have helped, though, that Jasprit Bumrah left the field after one over with the second new ball; he could instead leg glance the debutant Anshul Kamboj for four to bring up his century. It was a second hundred by a Yorkshireman to be applauded at Old Trafford in two weeks after Jonny Bairstow’s blitz of sixes in the Roses Twenty20. After Bairstow’s brutality came Root’s artistry.
He made India look distinctly average. It made it all the odder that Washington Sundar was not called upon until the 69th over. He struck twice in swift succession with clever use of flight and drift. Pope was caught at slip, Harry Brook, lured down the pitch and playing for turn that never arrived, stumped. After four second-innings wickets at Lord’s, the off-spinner has felt underused. It felt a fruitless toil for his teammates as England enjoyed three century partnerships.
Pope had been dropped by Dhruv Jurel, but with the wicketkeeper standing up to seamer Kamboj, and made 71; each of the top four reached 70 but, typically, Root was the one to convert it to a bigger score. Stokes was the fifth half-centurion, making his first 50 of the summer.
The captain was not always fluent. The new ball left a red mark in a particularly painful place when he was struck there. He fell flat on his face reverse sweeping Jadeja. But when he started to get more expansive and ambitious, he departed, retiring hurt with cramp. “The amount he has pushed his body over the last four or five weeks, he has pushed himself to some serious limits,” rationalised Pope.
Stokes’ departure prompted a belated Indian revival, Jamie Smith and Chris Woakes going as Bumrah and Siraj produced a couple of hostile deliveries. So Stokes resumed his innings, though not fully comfortable. Liam Dawson accompanied him to the close. India found themselves a long way behind in the game. And Ponting, Kallis and Dravid now find themselves behind Root.
