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.
Most 50s in Tests
| PLAYER | COUNTRY | MATCHES | RUNS | 50s |
| Sachin Tendulkar | India | 200 | 15,921 | 68 |
| Joe Root | England | 163* | 13,849 | 67 |
| Shivnarine Chanderpaul | West Indies | 164 | 11,867 | 66 |
| Rahul Dravid | India | 164 | 13,288 | 63 |
| Allan Boder | Australia | 156 | 11,174 | 63 |
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.
As of now, only Tendulkar is the only cricketer in the world who has scored more than 14,000 runs in Tests.
Root came out to bat at No. 4 for England on Day 1 of the fifth and final Test of the 2025-26 Ashes series in Sydney after England Test captain Ben Stokes won the toss and opted to bat first. Root, who turned 35 earlier this week, has added 154 runs from 192 balls so far for the fourth wicket with Harry Brook, who is batting on 78 runs from 92 balls.
Root has slammed 8 fours in 103 balls faced so far, whereas England Test captain Brook has smashed 6 fours and 1 six.
For the last match of the Ashes series, England have made one change to their playing XI. Fast bowler Matthew Potts is playing in place of injured Gus Atkinson. Australia have also made one change to their XI. All-rounder Beau Webster has been added to Australia’s playing XI in place of fast bowler Jhye Richardson.
Australia’s head coach, Andrew McDonald, hinted at spinner Todd Murphy’s inclusion in the playing XI earlier this week, but he failed to find a place in the playing XI.
