India vs England, 1st Test: Joe Root breaks several records during his marathon innings in Chennai

England captain Joe Root scripted yet another history on Saturday as he became the first-ever batsman to score a double century in his 100th Test.

Root clinched the milestone during the second day of the ongoing first Test between India and England at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Coming in to bat at No. 4, Root scored 218 off 377 deliveries. In the process, the English skipper also surpassed former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq's record of highest score for a cricketer playing in his 100th Test. Interestingly, Inzamam set the record against India when had scored 184 in Bengaluru.

First batsman in the history of Test cricket to score a double century in his 100th Test – JOE ROOT 👏

Sensational innings from the England skipper!#INDvENG | https://t.co/gnj5x4GOos pic.twitter.com/IiSpElgvrH

— ICC (@ICC) February 6, 2021

Root, who earlier had become only the third English batsman to score a century in his 100th Test, also surpassed Mike Gatting (207) to post the highest individual score for an England batsman in India. Moreover, Root equalled former England opener, Alastair Cook, with five double centuries in Test cricket and now is only behind Wally Hammond, who had struck seven double tons in the longest format for England.

Root also became only the 7th player to make 150-plus scores in three consecutive Tests as he joined an elite club comprising of Tom Latham, Kumar Sangakkara (4 consecutive Tests), Mudassar Nazar, Zaheer Abbas, Don Bradman and Hammond.

With his knock of 377-ball 218, Root (8,467) went ahead of former wicketkeeper-batsman Alec Stewart (8,463) in the list of most runs for England in Test cricket. The 30-year-old Root is only behind Cook (12,472) and Graham Gooch (8,900).

In the ongoing Test in Chennai, Root has led from the front for England. He put up 124 runs with Ben Stokes for the fourth wicket on Day two before sharing an 86-run stand with Ollie Pope for the fifth wicket. On Friday, Root and opening batter Dominic Sibley shared a crucial 200-run partnership for the third wicket for England after the visiting side had won the toss and opted to bat.

Towards the end of the day's play on Friday, Root fell to the ground because of cramps. His Indian counterpart Virat Kohli had rushed to him out, displaying great sportsmanship.

Lauding Kohli for his effort, Root said at the press conference," Yeah, I am ready for more tomorrow...hopefully get back, a bit frustrating, very kind of Virat (Kohli) to help me out (with cramps), good sportsmanship from him...It's just like a long day and then after a few overs I get some fluids and cooled down."

Reacting to his splendid show with the bat on Day 1, Root said," This may sound a little corny but I'm a firm believer that your best hundred is your next one. It is really special right now but it will mean a lot more if we can get a result out of this game, and there is still plenty of cricket left to be played in this game.

But it obviously is a treat to be in my 100th game and to be able to get some runs in it is very special in itself. So hopefully there is plenty more to come and this could contribute to pretty substantial first-innings total."