England Test captain Joe Root entered his name in the history books on Friday (August 28) by breaking the world record for the most runs scored in home Tests.
Root, the second-highest run-scorer in the five-day format, needed 13 runs in the ongoing second Test against Pakistan at Lord’s to surpass Ricky Ponting’s tally of 7,578 runs. He scored four runs in the first innings on Thursday before making 24 off 37 balls in the second innings on Friday.
The ongoing England-Pakistan Test at Lord’s is Root’s 89th in England, and he now has 7,591 runs to his name on home soil. Ponting, on the other hand, played 92 Tests in Australia during his 17-year Test career and scored 7,578 runs.
Most Test runs in home matches
| PLAYER | COUNTRY | TIME SPAN | MATCHES | INNINGS | RUNS | BEST SCORE | AVERAGE | 100 | 50 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Root | England | 2013-2026 | 89 | 156 | 7594 | 254 | 53.85 | 24 | 35 |
| Ricky Ponting | Australia | 1995-2012 | 92 | 154 | 7578 | 257 | 56.97 | 23 | 38 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | India | 1990-2013 | 94 | 153 | 7216 | 217 | 52.67 | 22 | 32 |
| Mahela Jayawardene | Sri Lanka | 1997-2014 | 81 | 129 | 7167 | 374 | 59.72 | 23 | 34 |
| Jacques Kallis | South Africa | 1995-2013 | 88 | 143 | 7035 | 224 | 56.73 | 23 | 34 |
In the list of players with the most Test
runs on home soil, Root and Ponting are followed by Sachin Tendulkar, Mahela Jayawardene and Jacques Kallis.
Root was dismissed by Mohammad Ali in the second innings. The Pakistan pacer trapped him lbw on the third ball of the 17th over. Had Root managed to score a half-century in the second innings, he would have broken Sachin Tendulkar’s world record for the most fifties in Test cricket.
As of now, Tendulkar and Root are tied on 68 half-centuries each. Root scored his 68th fifty in the first Test against Pakistan in Leeds on August 20.
Root will play one more Test for England at home this season, and he will be keen to make a big contribution in that fixture.
If Root, who has not managed to score a century for England in five Tests and three ODIs during the ongoing home season, scores at least 72 runs in the third Test against Pakistan, he will become the first Englishman and only the sixth player in the world to score 12,000 international runs on home soil.
Most international runs in home matches
| PLAYER | COUNTRY | MATCHES | INNINGS | RUNS | BEST SCORE | AVERAGE | 100 | 50 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sachin Tendulkar | India | 258 | 313 | 14192 | 217 | 50.32 | 42 | 70 |
| Ricky Ponting | Australia | 249 | 308 | 13117 | 257 | 47.69 | 36 | 70 |
| Virat Kohli | India | 231 | 259 | 12780 | 254* | 58.35 | 41 | 63 |
| Jacques Kallis | South Africa | 234 | 282 | 12305 | 224 | 51.48 | 29 | 75 |
| Kumar Sangakkara | Sri Lanka | 235 | 270 | 12043 | 287 | 49.55 | 26 | 60 |
| Joe Root | England | 199 | 260 | 11928 | 254 | 52.54 | 34 | 61 |
| Mahela Jayawardene | Sri Lanka | 249 | 281 | 11679 | 374 | 46.16 | 27 | 64 |
| Allan Border | Australia | 263 | 308 | 9811 | 205 | 36.88 | 16 | 58 |
As of now, Root has scored 11,928 runs in 260 innings across 199 international matches.
The record for scoring the most runs on home soil in international cricket belongs to Sachin Tendulkar. Tendulkar played 258 international matches in India and scored 14,192 runs in 313 innings across formats.
