Source TOI
LEEDS — England’s premier batter Joe Root added another historic milestone to his illustrious career, becoming the first player in cricket history to score 3,000 runs as a captain in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC).
The landmark achievement came on Day 2 of England’s opening Test against Pakistan at Headingley, Leeds.
A Milestone in Leeds
Root required 42 runs entering the match to reach the 3,000-run barrier. Having finished Day 1 unbeaten on 37 amid rain interruptions, the Yorkshire batter calmly notched the remaining five runs shortly after the lunch break on Friday to etch his name into the record books.
He went on to craft a composed knock of 66 off 112 balls, reinforcing his status as the cornerstone of England’s batting lineup.
Elite Captaincy Numbers
Having returned to the helm of England’s Test side following Ben Stokes’ retirement from international cricket in June 2026, Root has taken his WTC tally as skipper to new heights:
Matches as Captain: 34
Innings: 63
Runs: 3,000+
Average: 50.13
Centuries / Fifties: 8 / 13 (High score: 228)
The milestone places Root well clear of other international leaders in WTC history. Ben Stokes sits second on the all-time list for captains with 2,182 runs, followed by Sri Lanka’s Dimuth Karunaratne (2,160 runs), Kraigg Brathwaite (1,994 runs), and Babar Azam (1,918 runs).
