How Virat Kohli Compares To Joe Root In Tests Between 2021 And 2023? Stat Reveals

17.06.2023 - 11:13 sports.ndtv.com

England star batter Joe Root continued with his purple patch during the first Ashes Test against Australia at Edgbaston, bringing up his 30th Test century that powered England to a huge score in the first innings, continuing their 'Bazball' style of cricket which emphasises on win, a result at least and is powered by attacking and positive mindset.

At the start of 2021, Root was at the bottom of the 'Fab Four', a quartet of modern-day batting greats comprising of him, Virat Kohli from India, Steve Smith from Australia and Kane Williamson from New Zealand in terms of centuries scored in Tests.

Virat was at the top with 27, Smith next with 26, Williamson at third with 24 and Root at the bottom with 17. Now midway of 2023, Root has left behind these aforementioned batting superstars by a huge margin.

From 2021 start till this day, Root has scored 3,299 runs at an average of 58.91. In 62 innings, he has managed 13 centuries and nine half-centuries, with the best score of 228.

Australia Cricket Team England Cricket Team Joe Root Steve Smith Steven Smith Dimuth Karunaratne Australia New Zealand India Sri Lanka county Smith county Kane county Williamson

England star player Joe Root registered a huge record during the end of Day 1 of the ongoing second Ashes Test at the iconic Lord's Stadium in London. He became only the third player in history to score more than 2,000 runs and also bag 20 wickets in the Ashes. Australia's Warwick Armstrong (2,172 runs and 74 wickets) and England's Wally Hammond (2,852 runs and 36 wickets) are the two others who achieved this milestone. After removing Travis Head and Cameron Green in the same over, Root attained this milestone.

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After England suffered a narrow loss to Australia in the first Ashes Test, Joe Root has backed the team and its strategy to come out better in the next game. It is worth noting that the Ben Stokes-led side was heavily criticised for its style of play known as 'Bazball' during the Ashes 2023 opener. From declaring their innings on Day 1 of the Test to the attacking intent of their batters, the team faced backlash for all of it.

Joe Root moves to top of Test batting rankings after first Ashes Test, Australia's Marnus Labuschagne drops to third

Joe Root has moved to the top of the Test batting rankings after his fine display for England in the first Ashes Test at Egbaston. Root looked in sparkling form as he made an unbeaten 118 in the first innings and then 46 in the second innings. Ad Australia's Marnus Labuschagne, who had been top of the rankings for the last six months, dropped down to third position after scores of zero and 13 in the match.

Joe Root Topples Marnus Labuschagne As World No 1 Batter; Ravichandran Ashwin Maintains Top Spot

Premier India offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin has maintained the top spot among bowlers, while England's Joe Root toppled Australia's Marnus Labuschagne to become the world's top-ranked batter in the ICC Test rankings released on Wednesday. Ashwin, who was ignored for the World Test Championship final against Australia earlier this month in London, remained the world No 1 bowler with 860 points, followed by England's James Anderson at second with 829 points. Among Indian bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah (772) and Ravindra Jadeja (765) occupied the eighth and the ninth spot respectively with no change in their rankings.

Virat Kohli Gets Special Mention By Kevin Pietersen, Kumar Sangakkara During Ashes Analysis

Though it's the first Ashes Test between England and Australia in Edgbaston, it's Virat Kohli who became a big talking point among experts Kevin Pietersen and Kumar Sangakkara. After the end of Day 4, the two former cricketers sat down for a chat where they started to discuss that it was the first time that the England batter was stumped in his Test career. As the host pointed that this year was also the first time that Virat Kohli was dismissed via stumping, the Sangakkara and Pietersen couldn't hold themselves back from hailing the Indian batter.

"What Are You Doing...": Australia Star Reveals Virat Kohli's Advice During WTC Final

The World Test Championship final turned out to be a nightmare for Team India as they faced a 209-run defeat against Australia. In the chase of 444, the Rohit Sharma-led side was bundled out for 234 after Nathan Lyon and Scott Boland took four and three wickets respectively. Not only the bowlers but their batters too made vital contributions to the team's victory. Travis Head and Steve Smith brought up their respective hundreds and comfortably dominated the Indian bowlers. Apart from them, there was another player who also utterly impressed everyone and he was wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey.