Root adds World Test Championship feat to his records
courtesy
|| ICC ||
The plaudits continue to arrive for England batter Joe Root, who is breaking multiple records during the current Test series against New Zealand.
Root brought up his 27th Test century with a splendid knock in the first innings of the second Test against the Kiwis in Nottingham and in the process became the first player to score more than 3,000 runs in World Test Championship history.
The 31-year-old has 10 World Test Championship centuries to his name and nearly 1,000 more WTC runs than his closest challenger in Marnus Labuschagne of Australia with 2,180 runs.
Root's most recent knock saw him draw level on the same amount of centuries as Australia great Steve Smith and India veteran Virat Kohli, while the right-hander is one of only two England players to have scored more than 10,000 Test runs in total.
The reigning ICC Test Player of the Year has also jumped into second place on the Test batter rankings, with Labuschagne the only player ranked in front of him.
It has led to Root receiving plenty of praise from his fellow team-mates, with fellow centurion Ollie Pope describing the former skipper as the best English player of all time.
"We’re seeing England’s greatest ever," Pope told BBC Sport.
"Watching him do what he’s doing at the moment, it’s amazing. A joy to be a part of."
Former England captain Michael Vaughan agreed with Pope's statement.
"We're witnessing something special. I've known Joe for years and I really do believe he's England's greatest player," Vaughan said.
"He's such a joy to watch and he makes batting look so easy.
"It's just that drive and determination. You've got to have an incredible appetite to just keep on scoring centuries."
