Joe Root paid tribute to the late Graham Thorpe while celebrating his 39th Test tonne on Day 4 of the fifth Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025. He removed a headband and wore it after reaching the milestone, pointing to the heavens.
Root reached his century after flicking a length ball to deep-backward square leg for a pair in the 69th over of England’s second innings, as the hosts attempted to chase down 374 for the victory.
During Joe Root’s early career, the former English legend served as both mentor and batting coach.
The couple formed a strong bond while spending time together. Notably, Thorpe pushed for Root’s inclusion in the national setup.
The headband straight on ❤️
“England’s present No. 4 will never forget England’s previous No. 4, that meant so much to him.”
🤝 @IGcom pic.twitter.com/MnPzz4vQmQ
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 3, 2025
Earlier in the series, Root surpassed Ricky Ponting to go to second in the leaderboard of the all-time run-scorers in the history of Test cricket. With this 39th century, he eclipsed Kumar Sangakkara’s tally of 38 to attain another significant feat.
Root stitched a 195-run stand for the fourth wicket with Harry Brook (111 off 98) to dig England out of a spot of bother into a position of ascendancy while batting together. Both of them complemented each other perfectly to keep India at bay.
The series is on the line with England leading 2-1. India will have lost their second successive Test series by a 3-1 margin if they end on the wrong side of the result at The Oval, having lost by that margin Down Under in the 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Most centuries in Test matches
Sachin Tendulkar (India) – 51 centuries in 329 innings
Jacques Kallis (South Africa) – 45 centuries in 280 innings
Ricky Ponting (Australia) – 41 centuries in 287 innings
Joe Root (England) – 39 centuries in 288 innings
Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) – 38 centuries in 233 innings
