Joe Root scored a century in each inning of the second Test against Sri Lanka at the Lord’s to record the most centuries by an Englishman in the longest format.

The centuries not only helped England to take the upper hand in the ongoing Test but also brought him closer to surpassing Sachin Tendulkar’s record for most runs in the longest format.

The former England captain stands only 3544 adrift of breaking the record but he is more focused in trying and guiding his team to victory than achieving personal milestones.

“I just want to play, and try, and do my bit for the team and score the runs as many as I can and see where we get to. But there’s no better feeling I mean, it’s amazing when you score 100, you’d be lying if you said it wasn’t, a big part of why you started playing the game and what you love about it,” said Root speaking on video released by England Cricket.

“But there’s no better feeling than winning a Test match. So the more, it can affect games, and the more you can add to the team, the greater it is. So, that will be the main focus. And hopefully, more days like this will come with that mentality,” he added.

The list of the most runs in the longest format includes Tendulkar (15921), Ricky Ponting (13378), Jacques Kallis (13289), Rahul Dravid (13288), Alastair Cook (12472), and Kumar Sangakkara (12400).

Root is three runs short of surpassing Sangakkara’s record.