Delhi: The Sri Lankan cricket team is currently on a tour of England, where a 3-match Test series is being played between the two teams. The first Test match of the series was played in Manchester, which England won by 5 wickets and took a 1-0 lead in the series. In this match, former England captain and legendary batsman Joe Root made a big record in his name. He has surpassed former Indian legendary batsman Rahul Dravid in terms of scoring the most fifties in red ball cricket.

Rahul Dravid scored 63 half-centuries in 164 Test matches between 1996 and 2012. Now Joe Root has surpassed Dravid by scoring an unbeaten 62* in the second innings of the first Test against Sri Lanka and completing the 64th fifty of his Test career.

Root is now behind only West Indies legend Shivnarine Chanderpaul and India's greatest batsman Sachin Tendulkar in the list of most fifties in Tests. The Master Blaster is at the top of this list with 68 fifties, while Chanderpaul is in second place with 66 half-centuries.

The list of batsmen who have scored the most half-centuries in the history of Test cricket is as follows –

Sachin Tendulkar – 68 half centuries
Shivnarine Chanderpaul- 66 half centuries
Joe Root- 64 half centuries
Rahul Dravid – 63 half centuries
Allan Border- 63 half centuries