Most Test runs in a calendar year: The English captain missed a rare world record by 81 runs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground today.
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It was on the fourth delivery of the 25th over of England’s second innings of the third Ashes 2021-22 Test in Melbourne when England captain Joe Root edged a Scott Boland delivery to David Warner to first slip to become the seventh English batter to be dismissed in a dismal batting collapse.
Root, whose 28 (59) made him England’s highest run-scorer for the umpteenth time this year, had little impact on saving the match for his team as they were bowled out for 68 in 27.4 overs to lose by an innings and 14 runs.
In what is England’s third loss in a row, they have now lost all possibilities of regaining the Ashes. Considering the utter disappointing manner in which they’ve played on this tour, saving a 0-5 whitewash would be some achievement for Root and his men.
On a personal note, this match puts and end to an splendid batting year for the 30-year old player. In 15 Tests this year, Root has amassed 1,708 runs at an average of 61 including six centuries and four half-centuries to become England’s highest run-scorer by a substantial margin.
Most Test runs in a calendar year
It is worth mentioning that Root has achieved the third rank in the list of most Test runs in a calendar year. As far as Top 50 in the same list are concerned, Root features thrice now as he had also scored 1,477 runs in 2016 (17 Tests) and 1,385 runs in 2015 (14 Tests).
Former Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousuf (1,788) and former West Indies captain Sir Vivian Richards (1,710) are the only two players ahead of Root in this list.
| Rank | Batter | Year | Matches | Runs | Highest | Average | 100 | 50 |
| 1 | Mohammad Yousuf (PAK) | 2006 | 11 | 1,788 | 202 | 99.33 | 9 | 3 |
| 2 | Viv Richards (WI) | 1976 | 11 | 1,710 | 291 | 90 | 7 | 5 |
| 3 | Joe Root (ENG) | 2021 | 15 | 1,708 | 228 | 61 | 6 | 4 |
| 4 | Graeme Smith (SA) | 2008 | 15 | 1,656 | 232 | 72 | 6 | 6 |
| 5 | Michael Clarke (AUS) | 2012 | 11 | 1,595 | 329* | 106.33 | 5 | 3 |
| 6 | Sachin Tendulkar (IND) | 2010 | 14 | 1,562 | 214 | 78.1 | 7 | 5 |
| 7 | Sunil Gavaskar (IND) | 1979 | 18 | 1,555 | 221 | 59.8 | 5 | 8 |
| 8 | Ricky Ponting (AUS) | 2005 | 15 | 1,544 | 207 | 67.13 | 6 | 6 |
| 9 | Ricky Ponting (AUS) | 2003 | 11 | 1,503 | 257 | 100.2 | 6 | 4 |
| 10 | Kumar Sangakkara (SL) | 2014 | 12 | 1,493 | 319 | 71.09 | 4 | 9 |
