Joe Root Dedicates 33rd Century to Graham Thorpe

Joe Root has dedicated his 33rd Test century, scored in the ongoing Test against Sri Lanka at Lord's, to the late cricketer Graham Thorpe. Graham Thorpe, who was Root's coach, passed away earlier this month. After reaching his century, Root looked up to the sky to remember Graham Thorpe.

After his innings of 143 runs, Joe Root dedicated the century to his childhood role model, Graham Thorpe, saying:

"I've had the opportunity to work with many people during my time with the England team, both seniors and juniors. Graham Thorpe was one of them. He helped me a lot to improve my game, so it felt good to think of him after scoring the century. I will miss him a lot."

Talking about how Thorpe helped him, Root said, "He did a lot for my career. When I hadn't scored a single century in first-class cricket, he selected me for the England Lions team against Sri Lanka."

Root, who made his debut against India in Nagpur in 2012, recalled those memories, saying, "Thorpe saw something in me, which is why he supported me a lot when I made my debut against India in 2012. That's when we started working together. We became very good friends after that. So, it feels good to dedicate this century to him. It’s a small way to say thank you to him."

It is worth noting that former England batter and coach Graham Thorpe recently took his own life while suffering from depression.