India vs England: Joe Root enters elite club by registering ton in 100th Test

England Test captain Joe Root entered an elite club by registering a century in his 100th Test on Friday in Chennai. He achieved the feat on the opening day of the ongoing first Test against India at the M.A Chidambaram Stadium.

Root became only the third English batsman after Colin Cowdrey and Alec Stewart to claim the milestone and overall, Root was the ninth batsman to do so. The other eight players to score a 100 in their 100th Test were Javed Miandad (PAK), Gordon Greenidge (WI), Inzamam-ul-Haq (PAK), Ricky Ponting (AUS), Graeme Smith (SA), and Hashim Amla (SA).

Former Australia captain Ponting is the only player to score centuries in both innings of his 100th Test and England skipper Root would hope he could emulate Ponting's feat in the underway Chennai game.

Root won the toss and opted to bat and England took full advantage of the won toss as they ended the first day at 263 for 3 with Root still at the crease, batting on 128 runs off 197 balls. He has so far struck 14 fours and a six. Just before the stumps on Day 1, England lost the wicket of opening batsman Dominic Sibley, who got out on the final delivery of the day for 87 after facing nearly 300 deliveries. He put up 200 runs with Root for the third wicket.

Indian fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who is playing his first home Test, trapped Sibley leg before wicket and ended his knock of 87 off 286. It was Bumrah's second wicket of the day after he had dismissed England's No. 3 batsman Daniel Lawrence for a five-ball duck.

Root, playing his seventh Test in India, has an excellent record in the country. The Yorkshire batsman has now scored at least one half-century in each of those outings since his debut in December 2012. Root has now 20 centuries in Test cricket, with three of those having come in his last three appearances (228 vs SL, 186 vs SL, 100* vs IND). This is the first time in history that a cricketer has scored a century in his 98th, 99th and 100th Test.