The third day of the fourth Test between England and India at Old Trafford in Manchester was all about the former captain, Joe Root, who surpassed Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis, and Rahul Dravid to become the second leading run-getter in the longest format, as he now has only Sachin Tendulkar to chase in the list. 

Later in the evening, Root equaled Kumar Sangakkara to celebrate the fourth most centuries (38) in the five-day format. It was a dreamy day for the right-handed batter, who shouldered England to a strong position with the bat as they had already taken a lead of 186 runs. But Kevin Pietersen, the former England batter, has dropped a shocking remark on his social media account regarding the comparison of batters.

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‘Don’t shout at me, but batting these days is way easier than 20/25 years ago! Probably twice as hard back then! Waqar, Shoaib, Akram, Mushtaq, Kumble, Srinath, Harbhajan, Donald, Pollock, Klusener, Gough, McGrath, Lee, Warne, Gillespie, Bond, Vettori, Cairns, Vaas, Murali, Curtley, Courtney, and the list could go on and on.’ Pietersen wrote on his ‘X’ account (formerly known as Twitter).

Former England star makes shocking remark during Eng vs Ind 4th Test in Manchester

‘I’ve named 22 above. Please name me 10 modern-day bowlers that can compare to the names above?’ Pietersen addressed. Root has smashed 13409 runs in 286 innings of the red-ball format at the moment at an average of 51.17 and a strike rate of 57.40, having scored 38 centuries and 66 half-centuries at the best score of 262 runs.

Don’t shout at me but batting these days is way easier than 20/25 years ago! Probably twice as hard back then!

Waqar, Shoaib, Akram, Mushtaq, Kumble, Srinath, Harbhajan, Donald, Pollock, Klusener, Gough, McGrath, Lee, Warne, Gillespie, Bond, Vettori, Cairns, Vaas, Murali,…

— Kevin Pietersen🦏 (@KP24) July 26, 2025

Root is around 2500 runs behind India’s Sachin Tendulkar in the list, who finished with 15921 runs in 329 innings at an average of 53.78, thanks to 51 centuries and 68 fifties at the best score of unbeaten 248 runs. Pietersen has made a shocking remark, given that the modern era has also seen some of the best bowlers.

Against India, Root faced Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, along with Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah. Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Pat Cummins are playing for a long time, but Root will hope to notch up his first Test century down under during the Ashes 2025/26.