On Day 2 of the final Test match at The Oval against India (August 1, 2025), Joe Root made his way into cricketing folklore with a wonderful 29 run innings in 45 balls with six boundaries. This innings would give him the second most runs in home Test cricket, with now 7,224 runs in English conditions, narrowly ahead of Sachin Tendulkar’s 7,216 runs in India.
Who is ahead of Root?
Ricky Ponting, with 7,578 home Test runs in Australia, remains the only player ahead of Root all time. Root also shares an achievement with Don Bradman, as Root became only the second player to score more than 2,000 Test runs against a single opponent (India) in one country, and was unrivaled outside of Bradman’s supremacy against England. The milestone capped an incredible sequence for Root; previously, in the fifth Test series, he passed Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid to move into second place overall in the Test run scorers, second only to Tendulkar, with over 13,438 runs in his career across 158 Tests.
Root’s consistency
Root’s level of consistency against India is remarkable: in five matches, he has scored 432 runs at an average of 61.71 with two centuries including a magnificent 150 at Old Trafford and a 50 at The Oval last time out in the series decider. More importantly, that 150 was part of a larger run for Root where he broke multiple records: he went past Ponting on cumulative runs, equaled the highest centurion at home and entered the top five in the all time record. So as England try to wrap up the series in the fifth Test, Root’s batting exploits emphasise his mastery of home conditions and also that his quest for cricketing history continues. He sits with only Ponting ahead of him in runs at home and Tendulkar overall, with Sachin’s all time Test runs record of 15,921 the ultimate aim.
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