Root equals Ponting's 100 record; moves closer to Sachin in top scorer list

South Africa's Jacques Kallis, with 45 Test tons, and India's Sachin Tendulkar, with 51 Test tons, are the only two batters ahead of Root in the players with the most Test tons list

Former England captain and one of the modern day’s best batters, Joe Root, overall had a rough visit to Australia for the Ashes 2025-26, and he failed to perform consistently with the bat, resulting in the hosts retaining the coveted Ashes urn one more time. However, Root will not consider the Ashes summer a complete failure as he scored not once but two centuries in the series. Root, who earlier struck his 40th Test century during the second Test to end his red-ball ton drought in Australia, once again came up with his best in the final Test in Sydney and scored a majestic 160 off 242 balls to bring up his 41st Test century.

 

 

With this ton, Root is now joint third on the list of most hundreds in Test cricket with Australia's Ricky Ponting, who also has 41 triple-digit scores in Test cricket to his name. South Africa's Jacques Kallis with 45 Test tons and India’s Sachin Tendulkar with 51 Test tons are the only two batters ahead of Root in this list now. 

 

Batters with most centuries in Test cricket:

 

Rank	Player	Team	Span	Matches	Innings	Hundreds
1	Sachin Tendulkar	India	1989–2013	200	329	51
2	Jacques Kallis	ICC/SA	1995–2013	166	280	45
3	Joe Root	England	2012–2026*	163*	297	41
4	Ricky Ponting	Australia	1995–2012	168	287	41
5	Kumar Sangakkara	Sri Lanka	2000–2015	134	233	38
6	Steve Smith	Australia	2010–2026*	123*	218	36
7	Younis Khan	Pakistan	2000–2017	118	213	34
8	Sunil Gavaskar	India	1971–1987	125	214	34
9	Brian Lara	ICC/WI	1990–2006	131	232	34
10	Mahela Jayawardene	Sri Lanka	1997–2014	149	252	34
11	Rahul Dravid	ICC/India	1996–2012	164	286	36
12	Kane Williamson	New Zealand	2010–2025	108	192	33
13	Alastair Cook	England	2006–2018	161	291	33
14	SR Waugh	Australia	1985–2004	168	260	32
15	Matthew Hayden	Australia	1994–2009	103	184	30

Root moves closer to Sachin’s all-time record

Joe Root’s 160 against Australia in Sydney has now taken his total run count in Test cricket to 13,937, which puts him just 1,984 runs behind Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar’s record of the all-time highest run scorer in Test cricket. Notably, Sachin has 15,921 runs to his name in red-ball cricket in 200 matches.

 

Top all-time highest run scorers in Test cricket:

 

Player	Country	Matches	Innings	Runs	HS	100s	50s
Sachin Tendulkar	India	200	329	15921	248*	51	68
Joe Root	England	163*	297	13937	262	41	66
Ricky Ponting	Australia	168	287	13378	257	41	62
Jacques Kallis	South Africa	166	280	13289	224	45	58
Rahul Dravid	India	164	286	13288	270	36	63
Alastair Cook	England	161	291	12472	294	33	57
Kumar Sangakkara	Sri Lanka	134	233	12400	319	38	52
Brian Lara	West Indies	131	232	11953	400*	34	48
Shivnarine Chanderpaul	West Indies	164	280	11867	203*	30	66
Mahela Jayawardene	Sri Lanka	149	252	11814	374	34	50
Allan Border	Australia	156	265	11174	205	27	63
Steve Waugh	Australia	168	260	10927	200	32	50
Steve Smith	Australia	123*	218	10613	239	36	44
Sunil Gavaskar	India	125	214	10122	236*	34	45
Younis Khan	Pakistan	118	213	10099	313	34	33