Former England captain Joe Root is closing in on yet another world record in the history of the World Test Championship (WTC). He is set to be in action in the third Test against Pakistan starting October 24 in Rawalpindi even as England will be targeting their second consecutive series win in Pakistan. For the unversed, the three-match series is currently locked at 1-1 after Pakistan's 152-run win in the previous Test.
As for Root, he is only three away from becoming the first-ever player to complete 100 catches in the WTC history. It will be his 61st Test match in WTC and has taken a maximum of three catches in an innings so far. Root's favoured fielding position is slips where catches usually come thick and fast especially in conditions aiding fast bowlers.
Players with the most catches in WTC history
| Players |
Catches |
| Joe Root (England) |
97 |
| Steve Smith (Australia) |
87 |
| Ben Stokes (England) |
53 |
| Zak Crawley (England) |
49 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva (Sri Lanka) |
44 |
It remains to be seen if there will be some help with the new ball in Rawalpindi for the third Test which will help Root get to the 100 catches milestone. Steve Smith of Australia is at the second place in this aspect with 87 catches so far in WTC while Ben Stokes is far behind at third with 53 catches to his name.
Among Indian players, Virat Kohli is on top with 41 catches in 39 matches in WTC while skipper Rohit Sharma is following him closely having plucked 37 catches so far.
Indian players with the most catches in WTC history
| Players |
Catches |
| Virat Kohli |
41 |
| Rohit Sharma |
37 |
| Ajinkya Rahane |
29 |
Coming back to Root, he recently became the first-ever batter to complete 5000 runs in WTC history. He has so far amassed 5287 runs in 109 innings at an impeccable average of 52.87 with 17 centuries and 20 fifties to his name. The second best in this aspect is Marnus Labuschagne who has not even breached the 4000-run mark.
