| Opponent | Matches | Inns | Runs | Avg | High Score | 100s/50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 34 | 65 | 2428 | 40.46 | 180 | 4/18 |
| Bangladesh | 2 | 4 | 98 | 24.50 | 56 | 0/1 |
| India | 32 | 59 | 2955 | 56.82 | 218 | 10/12 |
| Ireland | 2 | 3 | 89 | 29.66 | 56 | 0/1 |
| New Zealand | 21 | 40 | 1925 | 53.47 | 226 | 6/9 |
| Pakistan | 18 | 31 | 1487 | 53.10 | 262 | 2/7 |
| South Africa | 15 | 27 | 1210 | 46.53 | 190 | 2/9 |
| Sri Lanka | 13 | 24 | 1376 | 62.54 | 228 | 6/2 |
| West Indies | 17 | 29 | 1513 | 56.03 | 182* | 6/7 |
| Zimbabwe | 1 | 1 | 34 | 34.00 | 34 | 0/0 |
| Total | 155 | 283 | 13115 | 50.63 | 262 | 36/66 |
Key Insights – Root’s Dominance & Struggles Against Specific Teams
Joe Root’s 2800+ runs tally is the highest by a batter versus India in Test cricket. Ricky Ponting is the only other batter to score more than 2500 Test runs against India.
He is also one of the two batters to score 10 or more centuries against India in Test cricket. Find the other one here.
And he is one of the nine batters to have 10 or more Test hundreds against a single opponent.
As a captain as well, Root found great success against India. He amassed 1251 runs and five centuries versus India. The right-hander is the only English skipper to score 1000 runs and five hundreds against an opponent in Tests.
Root is also the top run-scorer against New Zealand. He has aggregated over 1900 Test runs and six hundreds against the Kiwis. No other Englishman has scored more than 1200 runs and five tons.
Root’s 1300-plus runs versus Sri Lanka are the most by an England batter. Alastair Cook is the other batter with more than 1000 Test runs against Sri Lanka. Root’s six hundreds are also the most.
Root is one of the four batters who have accumulated 1000-plus runs against seven opponent Test teams. Except for Bangladesh, Ireland, and Zimbabwe, he has crossed the mark against Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and the West Indies.
The right-hander averages above 50 against five of those teams, the only batter to do so in Tests (minimum 1000 runs). If we lower the average to 40, then Root is one of the two batters to achieve it against seven opponents. Sachin Tendulkar is the other batter.
Root is the only Englishman to score multiple double centuries versus two Test teams. He has aggregated two double tons each against Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Find out who tops England’s double centuries list in Tests here.
The former England skipper’s both knocks against Pakistan have been 250-plus scores. He is one of the two batters with two 250-plus scores against Pakistan in Tests.
The second of the 250-plus knocks is Root’s highest in red-ball cricket. He accrued 262 runs in the second innings of the 2024 Multan Test.
Root, along with Cook, has smashed five or more hundreds against four teams, the joint-most for England.
There are two other Test stats charts that Joe Root tops. Find them here and here.
