England batting star Joe Root was honoured ahead of the fifth Test against India at Birmingham, receiving a silver bat for entering the 10,000-run club earlier this year.
Root, who recently stepped down as England Test skipper, allowing Ben Stokes to take over the role in the process, entered the exclusive club during the first Test against New Zealand earlier this summer. In the process, the Yorkshireman became only the second English batter after Alastair Cook, another ex-England captain, to cross the 10K-mark in the longest format of the game.
Cook is the all-time leading run-getter among English batters in Test cricket, finishing with 12,472 runs to his name in 161 outings at an average of 45.35. Overall, he’s fifth among the all-time leading run-scorers after Sachin Tendulkar (15,921), Ricky Ponting (13,378), Jacques Kallis (13,289) and Rahul Dravid (13,288).
Root, in comparison, finds himself at the 12th spot with 10,285 runs to his credit at an average a shade above 50 (50.17), having surpassed Sunil Gavaskar (10,122) — the first-ever batter to breach the 10,000-barrier in Test cricket.
Root is currently in action at Birmingham’s Edgbaston Cricket Ground, where England are taking on India in the delayed final Test of the five-match series. While the first four Tests of the series took place in the months of August and September last year, the fifth Test that was to take place in Manchester got suspended due to a COVID scare in the Indian camp.
Root was the leading run-scorer in that series, collecting 594 runs at a stupendous average of 94, collecting three centuries and a fifty along the way.
He was in equally roaring form in the recent series against New Zealand, where he finished with the most runs among the home batters, collecting 396 runs at an even better average of 99 with two centuries and a fifty, and is expected to be among the runs in the series finale against India as well.
England, meanwhile, won the toss and opted to bowl under overcast conditions. India found themselves in a spot of bother, losing both openers Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara in the morning session. Hanuma Vihari and former skipper Virat Kohli were batting at the time of rain forcing a halt in play, with the scoreboard reading 53/2 for India.
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