Batting records were shattered as mammoth knocks from Joe Root and Harry Brook took England to a hard-to-believe score of 823/7 in their first innings of the first Test against Pakistan in Multan. Both Brook and Root surpassed the 200 mark, with the former even scoring a triple century as they put on a partnership of 454 for the third wicket in just 522 deliveries.

The pair had come together when the score was 249/3 in the 50th over. They were separated when Root fell to Agha Salman with a score of 262 from 375 balls, with England’s score in the 145th over being 779/5. During the innings, Root broke Alastair Cook’s record for most runs for England in the history of Test cricket. He is only 33 years old and is enjoying what is probably the most productive phase of his career. Therefore, it is now widely believed that Root could even do it and break Sachin Tendulkar’s record for most runs in Test cricket.

Root still has a long way to go to achieve this special feat, but the former England captain has already equaled Tendulkar and a host of other legendary names by scoring a double century in Multan. This was Root’s sixth double ton, equaling the number of double hundreds scored by Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Younis Khan, Javed Miandad, Kane Williamson, Virender Sehwag and Marvan Atapattu in their illustrious careers. Of all the players who have scored six double tons, only Root and former New Zealand captain Williamson are still playing.

Root, along with all these players, ranks fifth on the list of batters with the most double centuries in Test history. Previously, he was level on five with Cook, Graeme Smith and Rahul Dravid. Above him are England legend Wally Hammond, former Indian captain Virat Kohli and Sri Lankan great Mahela Jayawardene with seven double centuries. West Indies star Brian Lara is third on the list with nine double tons, while above him is former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara with 11. Australian legend Don Bradman tops the list with a whopping 12 double-centuries in just 52 Tests.

Root-Brook lets the records tumble

Root and Brook resumed play on the fourth day with England’s score at 492/3. They surpassed Pakistan’s 556 to and England built a handy 267-run lead in the first innings. Their partnership on the flat track at the Multan Cricket Stadium was the highest in England’s Test history.

However, Brook was particularly tough in the afternoon as he pulled out all the stops and scored the second-fastest triple ton of all time in 310 balls. He became only the sixth Englishman to reach this milestone. He is also England’s first triple centurion in 34 years as he punished Pakistan’s bowlers. Six bowlers conceded more than 100 runs for the second time in Test history. The record-breaking partnership also marked only the third time that two players scored more than 250 in a Test innings.