England captain Joe Root joined an elite club of cricketers to score a 100 in their 100th Test matches as he continued his staggering form in the first Test against India in Chennai on Friday.

Root has now scored a century in his 98th, 99th and 100th Tests: the first man to do so.

100 in 100th Tests

Player Runs Team Opposition Ground Start Date
Colin Cowdrey 104 England v Australia Birmingham 11 Jul 1968
Javed Miandad 145 Pakistan v India Lahore 1 Dec 1989
Gordon Greenidge 149 West Indies v England St John's 12 Apr 1990
Alect Stewart 105 England v West Indies Manchester 3 Aug 2000
Inzamam-ul-Haq 184 Pakistan v India Bengaluru 24 Mar 2005
Ricky Ponting 120 Australia v South Africa Sydney 2 Jan 2006
Ricky Ponting 143* Australia v South Africa Sydney 2 Jan 2006
Greame Smith 131 South Africa v England The Oval 19 Jul 2012
Hashim Amla 134 South Africa v Sri Lanka Johannesburg 12 Jan 2017
Joe Root 100* England v India Chennai 5 Feb 2021
via ESPNCricinfo

Root, 30, will lead England in the four Tests knowing that he needs a win to stand any chance of reaching the inaugural World Test Championship final in June.

Root made his debut in 2012 at Nagpur in the fourth match of a series won by England 2-1 under Alastair Cook, their last triumph in India.

His career has had its highs and lows but Root has established himself as one of the world’s top batsmen.

“I think walking out in an England shirt will probably be the proudest moment,” Root told reporters on Thursday, on the eve of the opening Test in Chennai.

“I look back at walking up to bat and see Kevin Pietersen stood at the other end, someone whom I watched as a teenager and a kid growing up. I just couldn’t stop smiling. I was living my childhood dream.”

He added: “If I am ever going through a bit of lean spell or things aren’t quite falling for me then I try and look back at that moment and remember what that feeling was like.”

(With AFP inputs)