Manchester, Jul 25 (PTI): The prolific Joe Root on Friday surpassed Australian legend Ricky Ponting's tally to become the second highest run-getter in the history of Test cricket and next in sight of the England batter is Indian icon Sachin Tendulkar who continues to head the list.

On the third day of the fourth Test against India here, Root first leapfrogged legendary Indian Rahul Dravid and South African great Jacques Kallis' aggregate of runs in a space of eight balls and then went past Ponting by steering the ball behind point for a single as the Old Trafford crowd gave him a standing ovation.

Ponting had scored 13378 runs in 168 matches at an average of 51.85, while Tendulkar continues to top the list with 15921 runs.

It was apt that Ponting was in the commentary box when Root went past him. The 34-year-old Root began his Test career with a 73-run knock on debut during England's tour of India back in 2012 at Nagpur.

"Congrats, Joe Root. Magnificent," a delighted Ponting, doing commentary alongside Ravi Shastri, hailed the Yorkshire man.

Root is playing in his 157th Test.

It was some sight as England skipper Ben Stokes, who was also in the middle, raised his bat even before Root could take off his helmet and acknowledged the cheers and applause from the crowd and the players

Earlier, Root entered the history books by breaking the record of most Test centuries against India with his 12th hundred against the Asian giants, against whom he has played in 34 Tests so far.

Root had equalled Australian Steve Smith's record (11 centuries) in the third India-England Test at Lord's last week by scoring a hundred (104 runs from 199 balls) in the first innings.

Overall, the ton at Old Trafford was his 38th in red ball format as he joined former Sri Lanka star Kumar Sangakkara at fourth place in the list of centurions in the game's longest format.

Tendulkar (51), Jacques Kallis (45) and Ponting (41) are ahead of him in the hundred's list.

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Mangaluru: RSS leader Dr. Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat has been granted bail by the Puttur Fifth Additional District and Sessions Court in a case related to alleged communal hate speech.

The case pertains to a complaint filed against Bhat for delivering a speech during a Deepotsava event that was allegedly communal, derogatory towards women, and capable of disturbing public order. The incident took place on October 22 at Uppalige in Puttur taluk during the Deepotsava and Gopuja programme, where Bhat was present.

Following the complaint filed by Eshwari Padmunja at the Puttur Rural Police Station, the police had issued a notice directing Bhat to appear for inquiry. Subsequently, Bhat filed an anticipatory bail petition before the court.

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During the hearing on October 27, the court issued an interim order restraining coercive action and adjourned the matter to October 29 for complete hearing. On October 29, the counsel representing complainant Eshwari Padmunja sought permission to argue under Sections 338 and 339 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). The court adjourned the matter several times post that.

On Wednesday, the court granted bail to Prabhakar Bhat.

Advocate Mahesh Kaje represented him in the proceedings.