Joe Root, the captain of England cricket team, has become only the fourth player in history to score 1,600 Test runs in a calendar year, surpassing legends such as Ricky Ponting, Sunil Gavaskar, and Sachin Tendulkar. On Day 3 of the second Ashes Test against Australia in Adelaide on Saturday, Root accomplished the feat.

Since South Africa’s Graeme Smith in 2008, Root is the only player in over 13 years to score 1,600 runs in a calendar year. He has 1,606 runs in 14 Tests this year, with an average of 64.24, despite missing out on a maiden Test century on Australian soil. This year, he had six centuries, the best of which was 228.

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Root, who got out for 89 in the first Test in Brisbane, seemed in fine form in the day-night second Test in Adelaide before falling for 62 to Cameron Green at slips. 

Root did, though, add another chapter to his extraordinary season, becoming one of only a few of players to complete 1,600 Test runs in a single calendar year. 

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Only Mohammad Yousuf of Pakistan (1,788 runs in 2006), West Indian icon Viv Richards (1,710 runs in 1976), and former South African captain Graeme Smith (1,656 runs in 2008) have scored more. 

Root would be anticipating breaking Yousuf’s all-time tally with the Boxing Day Test and another innings in the Adelaide Test remaining.

Prior to the current tour, the Yorkshireman stated that he had been “desperate” to succeed in a country where he had only made 570 runs, without a century, at an average of 38.

“I think I probably wanted it too much, I was too desperate, and it probably had a negative impact on the way I played, I put too much pressure on myself,” he said.

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Root’s achievements, on the other hand, had little impact on England’s chances. On Day 3, the visitors were unable to mount a comeback in the pink ball Test, leaving Australia with a 2-0 lead in the five-match series. 

Australia reached 45/1 at stumps on Saturday, with a healthy lead of 282 runs after bowling England out for 236. 

In the first Test, Australia had thrashed England convincingly.