England captain Joe Root has had a stellar 2021 with the bat. The English batter added another feather to the cap on Day 3 of the Gabba Test. Root now holds the record for most runs in a calendar year by any England batter in Test cricket. He surpassed former England skipper Michael Vaughan’s tally of 1,481 runs in a calendar set in 2002. Root started the day on 1455 runs, 26 runs shy of Vaughan's record when he took guard in the second innings of the first Test.
In the 38th over of the second innings of England, Root took a single off Nathan Lyon’s ball to achieve the feat. The England captain would later go on to score his 50th Test fifty in his 109th match. At stumps on Day 3, Root walked back to the dressing room unbeaten on 86, which means he currently has 1541 runs. In the process, he also went past former Sri Lanka great Kumar Sangakkara's tally of 1,493 runs.
Vaughan's numbers
As far as numbers are concerned, the Yorkshire-born player took 25 innings (13 Tests) to achieve the feat. These 25 innings comprise of six centuries and a couple of fifties. Two out of six centuries Root scored this year were double tons. In comparison to Vaughan, it took Root one innings less to reach the milestone. Vaughan took 26 innings in 14 matches. His best score of 228 came against Sri Lanka at Galle in January while he also scored 218 against India in Chennai.
Golden chance
Overall, Root lies seventh in the all-time tally of most runs scored in a calendar year and will have a golden opportunity to go past Mohammad Yousuf who currently resides with 1788 runs at the top of the pile. The former Pakistan batter took only 19 innings in 11 Tests to accomplish the record in 2006.
With a couple of Test matches still to go at Adelaide and Melbourne on Boxing Day, Root will be presented with a golden opportunity to go surpass the record. At stumps on Day 3 of the first Test England were on 220/2 with a trail of 58 runs still to get rid of.
