[WATCH] Joe Root celebrates record century during ENG vs IND 4th Test in Manchester

It was a red-letter day for Joe Root to start the third day of the fourth Test in the five-match series against India at Old Trafford in Manchester. In the morning session, with two singles, he went past the former India captain, Rahul Dravid, and the former South Africa all-rounder, Jacques Kallis, to become the third leading run-getter of the longest format. 

Root has now overtaken the 13289-run mark in the format with an average of over 57. Later, in the afternoon session of the day, he celebrated another record by getting into the Test centuries. The right-handed batter equaled the former Sri Lanka captain, Kumar Sangakkara, to notch up his 38th Test century.

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It was the first ball of the 95th over as he tickled it down the leg side for a boundary off Anshul Kamboj to notch up the record. There was a small passage of play during the Mohammed Siraj over after the visitors took the new ball when he went flashing outside the off-stump but couldn’t get the blade on the ball.

Watch: Joe Root equals Kumar Sangakkara with record Test century in ENG vs IND 4th Test in Manchester

In this process, he also went past the former Australia captain and the current batter, Steve Smith, to record the most Test centuries (12) against India. This is now the third highest for a batter against an opponent after Don Bradman smashed 18 centuries against England, while Sunil Gavaskar bagged 13 centuries against the West Indies.

Water is wet.
Joe Root has a hundred.

🤝 @IGCom pic.twitter.com/GP5UknjIXA

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 25, 2025

Root’s form will be incredibly vital for the side as they plan to earn the urn back during the Ashes 2025/26 trip down under. It’s hard to believe that despite these centuries, he doesn’t have a single century against Australia down under. But he will have a chance to change the record.

Undoubtedly, England got into the front seat of the game after two half-centuries from the opening batters and the century from Root. They have crossed the 400-run mark, and the lead has leapfrogged to over 70 runs. By the end of the day, it’s expected to go beyond the 150-run mark, from which it would be an impossible task for the tourists to come back.