Joe Root reached the milestone of 10,000 runs in Test cricket on Sunday. He became only the second England batter to achieve the feat following Alastair Cook and the 14th overall.
Coincidentally, Joe Root became the joint-youngest to score 10,000 Test runs after reaching there at the age of 31 years, 5 months and 5 days. Notably, the record was earlier held individually by the former England batter Cook, who played 161 Test matches for England and scored 12,472 runs with the help of 33 centuries and 57 half-centuries from 2006 to 2018.
Talking about his performance on Sunday, Joe Root’s unbeaten 115 helped England beat New Zealand by five wickets at Lord’s in the first Test of the three-match series. The right-handed batter and former England captain was named the Player of the Match.
England got their first Test victory in last ten matches. They had lost six of the previous nine games.
“Feels fantastic, winning a Test match after a long time is a great experience. I have really enjoyed it and looking forward to the rest of the summer,” said Root after the win on Sunday.
After England’s disappointing 1-0 Test series loss to West Indies in April, Joe Root stepped down from his post of captain. Ben Stokes was then selected to fill the vacant position.
“Ben (Stokes) has won many Tests for us when I was captain, it's a great chance for me to give it back to him. So I just want to keep batting as long as I can, win as many games for my side. As long as I have got the energy and drive to do it, I will do it. I could not have wished for a better person to be leading this team. I am gonna be backing and do everything I can to help him become successful,” Root concluded.
England and New Zealand face each other next on June 10 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham where the second Test kicks off. The two sides will play the final Test match at Headingley, Leeds starting June 23.
