On Monday (June 23), Joe Root caught a ball off Josh Tongue’s bowling, which allowed him to tie Rahul Dravid’s record for the most catches in Test cricket. Dravid had a 16-year career, playing 164 matches and taking 210 catches in 301 innings for India and the ICC. Root has now matched that number with 210 catches in 293 innings across 154 Tests for England.
Here are some other players on the list:
- Joe Root (England) – 210*
- Rahul Dravid (India/ICC) – 210
- Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka) – 205
- Steve Smith (Australia) – 200
- Jacques Kallis (South Africa/ICC) – 200
In the first innings of the ongoing Test at Leeds, Root made one catch (of KL Rahul), and his catch of Shardul during the fourth day’s play helped him equal Alastair Cook’s record for the most catches in Tests between India and England. Cook took 38 catches in 30 matches against India, while Root has 38 in 31 matches.
Here’s the rundown on those catches in India-England Tests:
- Alastair Cook (England) – 38
- Joe Root (England) – 38
- Sunil Gavaskar (India) – 35
- Rahul Dravid (India) – 30
- Virat Kohli (India) – 25
Root has managed 102 catches in 65 World Test Championship (WTC) matches for England, which puts him just behind Steve Smith, who has 104 in 53 WTC matches.
Most catches in WTC:
- Steve Smith (Australia) – 104
- Joe Root (England) – 102
- Zak Crawley (England) – 55
- Ben Stokes (England) – 54
- Dhananjaya de Silva (Sri Lanka) – 50
On the same day, India scored 364 runs in their second innings, setting England a target of 371 runs to win the match. Josh Tongue and Brydon Carse took three wickets each for England in that innings, and spinner Shoaib Bashir got two batters out.
It’s worth noting that in the past 126 years, only once has a team successfully chased down a target over 370 runs at Headingley, which was done by the Australian team led by Don Bradman back in July 1948.