Joe Root shrugged off his lean run in the Tendulkar-Anderson Trophy and scored a brilliant hundred - his 37th in Test cricket - at Lord's. Root's hundred was critical to England's win as he helped the team post a strong total of 378 in the first innings. The huge score meant that India were not able to take a lead in the first innings. England were bowled out for 192 in the second innings, and had they conceded a lead, the 22-run win might not have been possible.

Root is one of the most consistent batters, and with runs behind him, he would now look to deliver good performances in the remaining two matches of the series. If Root fires again, England's chances of winning will increase significantly.

Meanwhile, Joe Root is nearing a historic feat. Root needs 204 runs in the fourth Test to become the first player in the world to score 6000 runs in the World Test Championship (WTC). Root is already the leading run scorer in the WTC, with 5796 runs, and also has the most centuries in the league-19. The dominance of Root in the WTC could be understood by the fact that the second-best to Root is Steve Smith, who has scored 4278 runs, which is over 1500 runs less than Root.

Player	WTC Runs
Joe Root	5796*
Steve Smith	4278*
Marnus Labuschagne	4225*
Ben Stokes	3475*
Travis Head	3300*

Meanwhile, despite Root's brilliance, England have failed to qualify for the WTC final in the first three editions. They are 2-1 ahead against India, and if they can win the final two Tests, they'll have a great start to the fresh WTC cycle. The Ashes will be a tough Test in Australia, and not many expect England to win, but home series against New Zealand and Pakistan and away series against Bangladesh and a depleted South Africa will provide them a good chance to qualify.