Skipper Joe Root hit a sparkling century in his 100th Test to help England start solidly in the opening Test against India on Friday.

Root took a single off spinner Washington Sundar to complete his 20th Test ton, and raised his bat to an applauding England dressing room in Chennai.

The in-form batsman -- who made his Test debut in India in 2012 and is playing after match-winning knocks of 228 and 186 in Sri Lanka -- swept the the Indian spinners around the stadium as he reached the landmark in 164 balls.

He joined England greats Colin Cowdrey and Alec Stewart in getting a hundred in their 100th Test.

Root, however, is the first to score a century in his 98th, 99th and 100th Test.

Root was batting alongside, Dom Sibley, on 83, as the duo put on an unbroken 164-run stand to steer England to 227 for two after batting first at the start of the four-match series.

The 30-year-old Root, who has scored over 8,000 runs at an average of over 49, is the 15th England player in 144 years of Test cricket to have appeared in a hundred matches.

List of batsmen to score a century in their 100th Test

England skipper Joe Root struck a century in his 100th Test Friday to join an elite list of batsmen in world cricket.

The following have achieved the feat:

Colin Cowdrey (ENG) v Australia in Birmingham, 1968

Javed Miandad (PAK) v India in Lahore, 1989

Gordon Greenidge (WIS) v England in St. John's (Antigua), 1990

Alec Stewart (ENG) v West Indies in Manchester, 2000

Inzamam-ul-Haq (PAK) v India in Bangalore, 2005

Ricky Ponting (AUS - 2 X 100s) v South Africa in Sydney, 2006

Graeme Smith (RSA) v England at The Oval (London), 2012

Hashim Amla (RSA) v Sri Lanka in Johannesburg, 2017

Joe Root (ENG) v India in Chennai, 2021