NEW DELHI: Former England captain Joe Root broke Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar’s record of 34 Test hundreds on the third day of the first Test match against Pakistan in Multan on Wednesday.
Root achieved the milestone in the second session of the day with a single off Abrar Ahmed. Root had smashed Alastair Cook’s record of 12,472 runs in the first session of the day.
Known for his technique against fast bowling, particularly against the fearsome West Indies pace attack in the 1970s and 1980s, Gavaskar was the first batsman to score 10,000 Test runs and 34 Test centuries and was regarded as one of the greatest openers in the history of cricket.
Gavaskar’s record of 34 Test centuries stood for nearly two decades until Sachin Tendulkar surpassed it.
Gavaskar’s 34th and final Test century – a score of 176 – came in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Kanpur in December 1986.
Root has been excellent against both spin and pace, adaptable in all conditions, and a prolific scorer in modern cricket and has also been among the “Fab Four” (alongside Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, and Steve Smith), and England’s all-time leading Test run-scorer.
By scoring his 35th Test hundred, Root also surpassed Mahela Jayawardene, Brian Lara and Younis Khan, all of whom had scored 34 Test hundreds.