The 34-year-old surpassed three legends in one day as he cemented his place among the greats – and helped England strengthen their lead

No airs, no graces – just a wave of the right hand and a slight nod of the head from one of sport’s most self-effacing figures, as Joe Root humbly acknowledged a standing ovation when he passed Ricky Ponting to become the second-highest run scorer in Test history.

The elegant Root, 34, is a throwback to a different era of batting, an orthodox "touch" player who does not need to smash the ball around to score quickly. Former England captain Alastair Cook hailed him as "England's greatest" and a "genius" when he surpassed his own record tally of 33 Test hundreds for England last year.

England's Joe Root has moved closer to cricketing immortality with his latest test innings against India at his favourite venue.

Joe Root not focused on record chase after latest run landmark - Root is second on the list of all-time Test run-scorers, though Sachin Tendulkar remains over 2,500 runs ahead.

Joe Root, England's right-handed batter, has overtaken Ricky Ponting to become the second-highest run scorer in Test cricket.

Joe Root became the second-highest run-scorer in Test cricket as he continued his march towards Sachin Tendulkar. Meanwhile, Root revealed how he used to imitate the batting greats during his youth days and how it feels to be in their company now.

After surpassing the likes of Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting, Joe Root now remains only behind India legend Sachin Tendulkar (15,291) in the all-time run charts.

Joe Root's impressive 150-run innings in the fourth Test against India saw him break 11 records, underlining his exceptional cricketing prowess.