Joe Root breaks Test cricket record for most catches

England batter Joe Root has set a new Test cricket record for the most catches taken by a player. During the third Test against Pakistan at Edgbaston, Root caught Abdullah Shafique at first slip, bringing his career total to 220 catches in 323 innings. This achievement moves him past Australia’s Steve Smith, who previously held the record with 219 catches.

While Root reaches new heights in fielding, his batting performance has seen a recent decline. He currently sits at 14,216 Test runs, trailing Sachin Tendulkar’s all-time record of 15,921 runs by 1,705 runs. Root has struggled to find form in the current series, scoring only 8 runs in the third Test and failing to record a century since January. Despite this lean spell, he remains in contention to eventually break Tendulkar’s run-scoring landmark in future series.