As England gears up for the second Test against India at Edgbaston starting Wednesday, all eyes will once again be on Joe Root, who stands on the cusp of overtaking some of cricket’s biggest names in the record books. With India trailing 0-1 in the five-match series, the former England skipper is poised to further cement his legacy at one of his most successful venues.
Root has already made a mark in the series, scoring a crucial unbeaten 53* in the second innings of the opening Test and totaling 115 runs across three innings so far. While his performances have been steady rather than spectacular, Edgbaston presents an opportunity for the Yorkshireman to change that narrative dramatically.
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Historically, Edgbaston has been a happy hunting ground for Root. He is not only England’s highest scorer at the venue but also the top run-getter overall in Edgbaston Tests, with 920 runs in nine matches at an impressive average of 70.76. His record includes three centuries and five half-centuries, with a personal best of 142*.
In his last three Tests at the Birmingham ground, Root has amassed 424 runs in five innings at a staggering average of 141.33. This run includes two hundreds and a fifty, underscoring his dominance at the venue.
A big score at Edgbaston could see Root surpass multiple milestones. Another century would take him to 37 Test hundreds, pushing him past Steve Smith and Rahul Dravid to become the fifth-highest century-maker in Test history. It would also place him just 14 centuries behind Sachin Tendulkar’s all-time record of 51 Test tons.
In the broader context of international cricket, Root’s next hundred will be his 55th across all formats, drawing him level with South Africa’s Hashim Amla as the sixth-highest century-maker in international cricket. He is currently trailing the likes of Ricky Ponting (71), Virat Kohli (80), and Kumar Sangakkara (63), with Tendulkar leading the chart with an unmatched 100 international centuries.
Root also remains in the hunt for another elite milestone. With 13,087 Test runs to his name in 154 matches at an average of 50.92, a score of 202 or more at Edgbaston will see him leapfrog India’s Rahul Dravid (13,288 runs) to become the fourth-highest run-scorer in Test cricket history.
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