Michael Vaughan, Virat Kohli and Joe Root.
Michael Vaughan, Virat Kohli and Joe Root. Image Credit: X

It has always been a comparison if Joe Root has been better than Virat Kohli in the Test format. The former England captain, with some excellent batting in the last couple of years, has shown how clinical he has become in the longest format of the game. The Indian batter hasn’t been in his top form in the red-ball game since 2020.

In January 2021, Joe Root was scoring fifties but the issue with the veteran was his conversation rate, something which Kohli had done impressively in the longest format of the game. The former had 17 centuries, while the Delhi-born had 27 in his pocket.

In the three and half years, England’s great has gone on to add 16 more centuries, which is quite fabulous despite playing mostly in a country where batting is the hardest job. Kohli, meanwhile, has smashed only a couple of centuries in the same period.

Joe Root joins Sir Alastair Cook with most Test centuries as England batter

The former England captain, Michael Vaughan, has made a mysterious post on ‘X’ (formerly known as Twitter) where he has compared the Test records of Virat Kohli and Joe Root after the latter celebrated his 33rd century in the format, joining the former opening batter, Sir Alastair Cook, through the 143-run knock against Sri Lanka in the second of the ongoing Test at Lord’s.

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“Good morning, India”- The former England captain wrote with a picture of Root and Kohli’s stats written on a board.

The Yorkshire batter walked out in the middle when the home side was struggling at 42/2 in the first hour. They were losing wickets consistently from one end, but the batter stood at one end to soak up the pressure and come up with a quality performance at the end.

The right-hander smashed 143 runs in 206 deliveries, shouldering on 18 boundaries before a failed reverse scoop ended his fine knock, which by his dismissal, had already put England in a safe place.

Joe Root now has notched up 12274 runs in 264 innings to be the seventh-highest run-getter in the history of the format. The average of 50.71, along with a strike rate of 56.82, has been shining gloriously beside his name, along with 64 half-centuries and 33 centuries. He is looking for 127 more runs to leapfrog Kumar Sangakkara in the ladder.

Kohli, on the other hand, is 19th in the list, having notched up 8848 runs in 191 innings, at an average of 49.15 and a strike rate of over 55, besides celebrating 30 half-centuries and 29 centuries. All of these sections are less than Root. Even in the number of sixes, the England batter has drilled 44 over boundaries in comparison to Virat’s 26 sixes.

“It was nice to be able to think of him (Thorpe) in that moment. He’s someone I’m sorely going to miss and who I owe a lot to. He put a lot into my game, into my career, and without his help, I definitely wouldn’t be where I am now.” Joe Root dedicated the century to the late England batter Graham Thorpe.

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Virat will have a great chance to add some centuries to the list, as they are going to play ten red-ball games in the next five months, five of which will be at home against New Zealand and Bangladesh before they travel to Australia for the blockbuster five-match series of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.

After finishing the home summer at Kennington Oval, England will make their trip to Pakistan and then to New Zealand during the winter.