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England's celebrated batter Joe Root etched his name into the record books by scoring a stunning century against India in an historic performance during the fourth Test at the JSCA International Stadium in Ranchi on February 23.
Joe Root pips Steve Smith for most Test centuries against India
This feat elevated him above his Australian counterpart Steve Smith as the player with the most Test centuries against India, now boasting 10 centuries. Additionally, this century marks Root's 31st in Test cricket.
Root
Breaking a drought of 14 innings without a century, Root's last hundred in the red-ball format was against Australia in Birmingham, back in June 2023. Remarkably, this century is Root's first on Indian terrain in three years, the last being in Chennai in February 2023, which he impressively turned into a double-century. Root's achievement against India includes over 20 scores of fifty-plus in Tests, tying with the legendary Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting for this record.
Root comes to England's rescue
Root rescued England from a precarious position on Day 1 of the fourth Test against India at Ranchi's JSCA stadium on Friday, February 23. At the end of Day 1's play, England were 302/7 with Joe Root (106 off 226) and Ollie Robinson (31 off 60) intact on the crease.
England, who are trailing the five-match series 1-2, got off to a shaky start and found themselves clueless in negotiating India's debutant Akash Deep's bowling. Akash Deep ripped through the England's top order. Akash removed visitors' top three batters, Zak Crawley (42), Ben Duckett (11) and Ollie Pope (0) and left them teetering at 57/3. Then Joe Root came to England's rescue and kept the scoreboard running. However, England's misery didn't end there as they lost two more wickets in quick succession in Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes which left the Three Lions reeling at 112/5. Root then combined with Ben Foakes and stitched a solid 113-run partnership to take England to 225 before their wicketkeeper fell to Mohammed Siraj after scoring a patient 47 off 126. But undeterred by India's sharp bowling Root kept going and ultimately notched his 31st Test century to announce his comeback and took England to a respectable 302/7.
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