Joe Root Scores 37th Test Ton, Surpasses Dravid and Steve Smith’s Tally

LONDON: Senior England batter Joe Root scored his 37th Test hundred on Friday to go past the tally of former India skipper Rahul Dravid and contemporary Steve Smith, both of whom have made 36 centuries in the traditional format.

Root achieved the feat on the second day of the third Test against India at Lord's, when he hit Jasprit Bumrah for a boundary past gully. However, Bumrah had last laugh getting the former England skipper bowled for 104 off 199 balls with 10 boundaries.

This was the 11th time that Bumrah had dismissed Root in Tests -- the joint most the England batter has been dismissed by a bowler alongside Australia's Pat Cummins.

Batting great Sachin Tendulkar leads the list of century makers in traditional format with 51 hundreds, followed by Jacques Kallis (45), Ricky Ponting (41) and Kumar Sangakkara (38).

Root also joined Australian batter Smith as the batter with most hundreds against India in Test cricket -- 11 tons apiece.

West Indian legends Sir Gary Sobers, Viv Richards and former Australian captain Ponting trail duo with eight hundreds against their name.

Root took 60 innings to reach that mark, while Smith needed just 46 innings. Agencies

Most Centuries In Tests:

Player                                    Mat          Inns         Runs        HS           Avg     Century

Sachin Tendulkar (India)         200          329          15,921     248*         53.78       51

Jacques Kallis (South Africa)  166          280          13,289     224          55.37       45

Ricky Ponting (Australia)         168          287          13,378     257          51.85       41

Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)               134          233          12,400     319          57.40       38

Joe Root (England)                 156*         284          13,219     262          50.84       37

Steve Smith (Australia)           118          210          10,424     239          56.34       36

Rahul Dravid (India)                164          286          13,288     270          52.31       36

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