England’s star batsman Joe Root scored his 32nd Test century on Day 4 of the second Test against the West Indies at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on Sunday, July 21. Root has now equaled the tally with the Kiwi veteran batter Kane Williamson and Australia’s Steve Smith for the most Test hundreds among active players. India’s Virat Kohli is the only batter in the ‘Fab-4’ who is currently behind in this ranking, having only scored 29 tons in red-ball cricket. Root’s century has helped the English team build a comfortable lead over the Windies.

Joe Root has surpassed Alastair Cook as the fastest England batter to reach 32 Test tons. The right-handed batter is also the third fastest to attain this milestone, having done it in just 260 innings. He is also the highest run-scorer in Test cricket among current players. Root has also equaled England’s record of six Test centuries against the West Indies, as well as five Test hundreds at Trent Bridge. He is currently second only to Alastair Cook among English batsmen in terms of Test runs and hundreds.

England batted first and scored 416 runs in the first innings, with Ollie Pope contributing 121 runs. In response, West Indies scored 457 runs, with a ton from Kavem Hodge and half-centuries from Alick Athanaze and Joshua Da Silva. Root’s century in the second innings helped England regain a commanding lead in this match. He departed after scoring 122 runs. This could be a match-winning knock for the hosts, allowing them to seal the three-match series 2-0.

Currently, Kohli is the only batsman in the Fab-4 with less than 30 Test tons. Root, Williamson, and Smith, on the other side, each have 32 Test tons. Kohli hopes to increase his stats in the forthcoming Bangladesh series.

Root is just 60 runs away from completing the 12,000-run mark in Test cricket which has been achieved by only six batters in the history of the format. Former England captain Michael Vaughan believes that Root will eventually be able to break Indian legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar’s record for most runs in Test cricket.

The 33-year-old batter needs 3,982 more runs to surpass Tendulkar’s record. However, Root is on the verge of becoming England’s all-time leading Test run-scorer. England’s former opener Cook has amassed 12,472 runs in 291 innings at an average of 46.95, including 33 centuries and 57 fifties. Root is ranked sixth with 11,940 runs, which includes 32 centuries and 62 fifties.