Joe Root Virat Kohli Record: Joe Root has drawn level with Virat Kohli on a significant World Test Championship captaincy landmark after England completed another convincing victory over Pakistan at Lord’s.
England’s 194-run win in the second Test gave Root his 14th victory as captain in WTC matches, putting him alongside Kohli for the third-most wins in the competition’s history. Root reached the milestone in his 35th match as England’s WTC captain.
The result also proved decisive for England in the three-Test series, with the hosts moving 2-0 ahead and securing the series with one match still to play.
Root Joins Kohli On 14 WTC Wins
Joe Root’s latest success places him alongside former India captain Kohli, who also finished his WTC captaincy tenure with 14 victories.
While the pair share the same number of wins, their records have come across different numbers of matches. Root’s 14 victories have arrived from 35 WTC games as captain, giving him a 40% win rate.
Kohli, meanwhile, recorded his 14 WTC wins at a significantly higher success rate of 63.63%.
Pat Cummins remains comfortably ahead of both former and current rivals, having collected 25 WTC victories as captain. England’s Ben Stokes occupies second place with 21 wins.
Root Surpasses Fleming In Overall Test Record
Root’s latest victory also brought another captaincy milestone outside the WTC.
The England batter has now moved ahead of former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming for Test wins as captain. Root has registered 29 victories in the role, edging past Fleming’s final tally of 28.
That places Root among an elite group of Test captains, although Graeme Smith remains the runaway leader in the overall category with 53 wins.
Australia legends Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh follow Smith with 48 and 41 victories respectively. Kohli sits fourth on 40, while Clive Lloyd and Allan Border complete the next positions.
England Continue To Dominate Pakistan
Root’s latest milestone came as England produced another commanding performance against Pakistan at Lord’s.
The 194-run victory followed their innings-and-103-run success in the opening Test at Headingley, giving England a second straight emphatic result in the series.
With the three-match contest already secured at 2-0, England will now head into the final Test with the opportunity to complete a clean sweep.