Joe Root slammed his 67th half-century in Tests for England on Sunday (January 4). The half-century by the former England Test captain, who sits at the No. 1 position in the ICC Test batter’s rankings, helped him move to the No. 2 position in the list of batters with the most 50s in Tests. Only the legendary Sachin Tendulkar of India has scored more half-centuries than Root in Test cricket.
Tendulkar, who played 200 Tests for India from November 1989 to November 2013, slammed 68 half-centuries in addition to 51 centuries. On the other hand, Root now has 67 fifties and 40 hundreds to his name in 163 Test matches.
The unbeaten fifty on Sunday helped Root go past former West Indies left-handed batter Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s tally of 66 half-centuries in 164 Test matches.
If Root manages to score at least 151 more runs in the ongoing Test, then he will become the second batter in the world to score 14,000 runs in Tests.
