World number 1 Test batter Joe Root is going through a purple patch in the format. He recently equalled the England record of 33 Test centuries held by Alastair Cook when he reached three figures on the first day of the second Test against Sri Lanka at Lord’s on Thursday. Root was dismissed after scoring 143 runs off 206 balls in what was England’s first innings in the game. A day after his sensational performance, former England capain Michael Vaughan took a dig at Indian cricket fans by comparing the Test stats of Root with that of Virat Kohli.

Root’s Test stats are slightly better than Kohli’s in Test cricket.

“Morning India,” was the caption of Vaughan’s post.

Morning India pic.twitter.com/Ax5g75yLyS

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) August 30, 2024

“It should be good morning Britain. We haven’t seen that guy Virat in India from long time,” wrote a fan.

“Joe Root will have to take two births to match Virat Kohli’s 80th international century,” wrote another user.

“Joe root is just a home track bully without home Test hundreds and hundreds in the flat pitch he is just another Babar Azam,” was also among the comments.

“Root’s better in Test cricket, there’s no shame in saying that. Virat’s a 3-format player, now 2, whereas Joe’s mostly concentrated in the Test circuit,” wrote a user.

Root drew level with fellow former England captain Cook’s record of 33 Test centuries for England, but in his 145th match compared to the retired opener’s career tally of 161 Tests.

It also took the 33-year-old Root into joint-tenth place in an all-time list of Test century-makers headed by India great Sachin Tendulkar, who scored 51 hundreds in 200 Tests from 1989-2013.

Significantly, the 33-year-old Root is the only batsman in this group who is still an active cricketer, with all the others retired from Test duty.

(With AFP Inputs)