Srinagar: Not just with the bat in the hand, England star Joe Root has been shattering records in the field as well as the cricketer on Monday, added another feather to his cap equaling India’s legend Rahul Dravid’s record of taking most catches as a fielder in Tests.
The 34-year-old achieved the milestone on the penultimate day of the ongoing first Test between England and India when he snapped Shardul Thakur off Josh Tongue.
His sharp catch at first slip drew him level with Dravid, who has been at the top of the list of fielders with the most catches at 210 in the format since 2012.
Root took 154 matches to take his Test catches tally to 210, 10 fewer than that of Dravid.
Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene is third on the list with 205 catches in 149 matches, while Australia’s Steve Smith and South Africa’s Jacques Kallis are tied at fourth with 200 catches each.
Most catches in Tests
Joe Root (ENG) – 210*
Rahul Dravid (IND) – 210
Mahela Jayawardene (SL) – 205
Steve Smith (AUS) – 200*
Jacques Kallis (SA) – 200
Meanwhile Joe Root is also on the verge of setting multiple records in the ongoing five-match series against India.
The right-handed batter, who has recently surpassed the 13,000-run milestone during England’s historic one-off Test against Zimbabwe, is within striking distance of overtaking two cricketing greats — Ricky Ponting and Rahul Dravid — on the all-time Test run-scorers list.
Having scored 13,006 runs in 153 matches at an average of 50.80, including 36 centuries and 65 half-centuries, Root needs 282 runs to surpass India’s Dravid, 283 to move past South Africa’s Kallis and 373 to overtake former Australia captain Ricky Ponting on the elusive list of batters with most Test runs, led by India’s Sachin Tendulkar with 15921 runs.
