Joe Root Finally Scores First Test Hundred in Australia, Joins Elite 40-Century Club

At last Joe Root has scored a Test hundred in Australia. This was one of the most awaited hundreds in international cricket like Sachin Tendulkar’s wait for his 100th hundred (the gap between his 99th and the 100th was 371 days) or Virat's wait for 1205 days (3 years, 3 months and 17 days) en route to his 28th ton in Tests. Root hit 138* against Australia and became the first English batsman and the fourth overall to score 40 career hundreds in Test cricket (others: Ricky Ponting 41, Jacques Kallis 45 and Sachin Tendulkar 51).

Joe Root’s drought in Australia had become a mystery. The drought had put Root under pressure, and this was probably the last tour for him to end the same. He took off his helmet and raised his bat after scoring a hundred that was long overdue and now, he must be a relieved man.

This doesn’t mean that his batting class in Tests in Australia was under any doubt. He has now scored a hundred but is yet to cross another benchmark. He is one of the four batsman who has Test average of 40+ in at least seven countries (min 10 innings in each country) with Sachin Tendulkar leading the pack with his success in eight countries (others: Younis Khan, Joe Root and Inzamam-ul-Haq), but he is yet to cross this barrier in Australia (37.60 up to Brisbane Test).

He scored a hundred in Australia in Tests in the 30th attempt (in 16th Test) and is hopeful that this will not be his last in Australia. Overall, this was his fifth against Australia, probably scored in the most difficult of conditions in the pink-ball Test. Before this, his highest score in Australia was 89, scored at the Gabba.

Joe Root now has 40 Test Centuries and among the Fab 4, he is the first to reach Test hundred number 33 to now 40. In fact, the other three are much behind now: Steve Smith - 36, Ken Williamson – 33 and Virat Kohli – 30. In the list of most Test hundreds, Joe Root is now fourth with Sachin Tendulkar - 51, J Kallis – 45 and Ricky Ponting – 41 ahead of him. Some other facts:

*Incidentally, his 100th run of his first century in Australia was also his 1000th Test run in Australia.

* Fewest Innings to reach 40 Test hundreds: 246 - Jacques Kallis, 251 - Sachin Tendulkar, 273 - Ricky Ponting and 291 - Joe Root.

* First century for Joe Root across countries:

England - 104, Leeds, 2013

West Indies - 182*, ST George's, 2015

South Africa - 110, Johannesburg, 2016

India - 124, Rajkot, 2016

Sri Lanka - 124, Pallekele, 2018

New Zealand - 226, Hamilton, 2019

Pakistan - 262, Multan, 2024

Australia - 138*, Brisbane, 2025

*Test Centuries by fab 4 away from home (innings per century):

18: Steve Smith (6.2)

16: Virat Kohli (7.7)

16: Joe Root (7.3)

13: Kane Williamson (7.6)

*Joe Root’s 40 Test hundreds have been accumulated all over the world: 24 in England; 4 in West Indies; 3 in each of India, Sri Lanka & New Zealand. 1 in each of South Africa, Pakistan and Australia.

The happiest person to see Joe Root scoring a Test hundred in Australia is Grace Hayden, daughter of the former Australia opener Matthew Hayden and TV Anchor because her father had promised to “walk nude around the MCG if he (Root) doesn’t make a hundred this summer,” forcing Grace to respond on Instagram with: “Please Joe Root, make a hundred.” Matthew, 54, was convinced that on this tour Root would hit a century, after 29 innings, that he made a bet with fellow former Aussie Greg Blewett.

Grace Hayden, 23, took to social media to thank the England batter … and ensured her father would not have to come good on his pledge to walk around Melbourne Cricket Ground naked. She followed it with a clip from the film F1, released this year, in which a team principal played by Javier Bardem celebrates wildly following his team winning a race below the caption 'Joe Root finally has a Test century in Australia.'

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In July 2020, Virat Kohli was the leader among the fab 4 with 27 Test hundreds, followed by Steve Smith 26, Kane Williamson 21 and Root the least at 17. Now the England batsman is walking tall with 40 hundreds.