On Saturday, England Test captain Joe Root accomplished yet another incredible record in his incredible career: he surpassed the legendary Sachin Tendulkar to become the batsman with the most half-centuries in the format’s history. The 35-year-old achieved the milestone in the third Test match against Pakistan in Birmingham, when he scored an undefeated 62 from 69 deliveries to help England win the three-match series 3-0 by eight wickets.
Root now has 69 Test fifties after the innings, surpassing Sachin Tendulkar’s previous record of 68. In the first Test at Headingley on August 20, 2026, Root and Tendulkar were tied, and the record-breaking half-century came in the series’ last game. After winning the first two Test matches at Headingley and Lord’s, England’s victory at Edgbaston completed a 3-0 whitewash. With 66 half-centuries, West Indies great Shivnarine Chanderpaul is ranked third on the list, followed by former Australian captain Allan Border and legendary Indian Rahul Dravid, who each have 63.
At the conclusion of a Test series that was remarkably quiet by Root’s standards, he made his most recent accomplishment. The seasoned player failed to score a century and ended the five-innings campaign against Pakistan with 164 runs. His undefeated 62 in Birmingham was especially noteworthy because he also suffered two single-digit scores.
Root’s ranking at the top of the list, which covers many generations and radically different playing environments, is a testament to his consistent performance across a long Test career. He has now eclipsed batsmen who are considered to be among the best the game has ever produced, solidifying his status as one of the all-time great Test hitters.
Beyond the 1950s milestone, Root added a ground-specific record to his expanding collection by being the first batsman to reach 1,000 Test runs at Edgbaston. With this accomplishment, he has now reached 1,000 runs at four different Test locations. He has scored 2,203 runs at Lord’s, 1,128 at Manchester, 1,050 at The Oval, and now Edgbaston is part of that illustrious club.
Root is in a very exclusive group in the history of the format because only Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting had ever amassed 1,000 Test runs at four different locations. His status as one of the most prolific run scorers in the history of the game is further cemented by the combination of the Edgbaston milestone and the 1950s record, which highlights the extraordinary breadth of his accomplishments in English conditions and beyond.
