On this day in 2022: Joe Root reaches mount 10K in Tests
On this day, in 2022, former England skipper Joe Root achieved a historic feat as he became just the second England batter to score 10000 Test runs with an unbeaten ton. With his 26th Test century, Root became the 14th player in the history of the game to break the 10000-run mark in the longest format of the sport, and also the 10th fastest to reach the milestone taking just 218 innings.
Root became the fastest to 10000 Test runs in terms of the amount of time taken since debut, and also became the joint-youngest when he achieved the feat on June 5, 2022, at the iconic Lord’s while playing against New Zealand. The game against New Zealand was Root’s first outing after stepping away from captaincy, and the then newly-appointed skipper Ben Stokes had a memorable day as England’s Test skipper.
After leading the side for five years in a record 64 games, Root announced his decision to step down in April 2022. The English batter faced a lot of criticism for his batting approach before he left the captaincy, but he shut all his critics and made a stylish comeback. His 115-run innings at Lord’s helped his team win by five wickets.
Notching up his first-ever fourth-innings century, Root led his team to a valiant pursuit of 277 in a composed partnership with Ben Foakes, who scored an undefeated 32 in the 120-run stand. His approach was very similar to that of his predecessor, Alastair Cook, as Root joined the former English skipper in an elite list, becoming just the second Englishman to reach the mark.
They both cleared the threshold at precisely 31 years and 157 days, extending the parallel nature of their accomplishments. It was Root’s 26th century overall, matching West Indian legend Sir Garfield Sobers. But Root’s century came in at a very crucial time in the game and hence, he and the team were extremely happy with the performance.
New Zealand wanted to stay in the game and planned to use the second new ball to their advantage, but they were unable to stop England from scoring and were denied the opportunity to even take out a brand-new Dukes. Root was on 98* when he started the 77th over, and on 9998* overall runs when he faced Tim Southee. Taking a couple of runs off the pacer’s delivery, Root broke several records and etched his name in history books.
