Century star Joe Root hailed as 'England's best ever batsman'

That was the verdict of England's all-time leading runs scorer and former captain Sir Alastair Cook after Joe marked his 100th Test with a sublime century against India.

His unbeaten 128 put England on the front foot in Chennai as Test cricket returned to free-to-air television in this country for the first time since 2005.

His third successive century this winter also moved the Sheffield Collegiate Cricket Club graduate to within touching distance of third place on the all-time list of England's run makers.

The King Ecgbert School school pupil now stands on 8,377 Test runs - behind only Alec Stewart, Graham Gooch and Cook.

But, according to Cook, Joe is simply the best.

"It's an incredible moment," Cook, who has previously backed Joe to 'fly past' his record tally of 12,472 runs, told Channel 4 viewers.

"It's such a big week for him and to perform under pressure like that just shows the mark of the man.

"He's a seriously quality player.

"I've said it before and I'm going to say it again he's definitely England's best ever batsman in terms of his all round game.

"India, in their own conditions, didn't know where to bowl at him.

"If you're captaining against him [it's so tough]. He's got so many options against spin and the same ball he can hit it wherever he wants.

"He's scored three successive centuries and I wouldn't be surprised if he made that four or five."

Joe’s century saw him become just the ninth player in the history of the game to mark a hundred caps with a hundred runs.

Among Englishmen only Sir Colin Cowdrey, in 1968, and Alec Stewart, in 2000, have previously chalked up that singular achievement.

"It's an amazing day for him," added Cook.

"It's a tough week in one sense because he'd have been sat in his hotel room in quarantine and done lots of interviews - because there's nothing else to do - about how great it is to play 100 Test matches and what a great player you are.

"That can actually be quite uncomfortable for a player because you're always looking forward. You're always looking forward to the next challenge.

"Sometimes with everyone patting you on the back you forget the hard work you've got to do to score runs but straight away today you saw that determination in his eyes.

"I think he was a little bit nervous early on but once he got out there and got settled he was back into that rhythm he had in Sri Lanka.

"It was an absolutely brilliant innings."

Joe, who grew up in Dore, savoured his third three-figure score in his last three Tests but insists there can be no let-up in his or England’s intensity as they seek to put pressure on India.

“It’s a very special day,” he said on Channel 4. “To play the way we have is a really impressive start but it’s just a start. It’s really important we go into tomorrow and back it up. To get off to things as we have done.“It’s a good start but we’ve got to make sure we get a really big first-innings lead.”

The Yorkshireman has been in outstanding form this year, already amassing 554 runs at an average of 138.5, and he acknowledged some time away from the sport recently has allowed him to work on some aspects of his game.

“I’ve really used that lockdown period to have a look at a few things; technically and mentally as well, I had a chat with a few people and it’s really benefited me,” he added.

“You always have to keep looking to evolve as a player and I’m benefiting from that currently and I’m sure there will be more challenges and things thrown in front of me in the near future that I’ll have to overcome.”