Best Indian Test Opening Batsmen Featured

Top 10 Indian Opening Batsmen in Tests

by

Kindly switch to Landscape Mode for better viewing experience

All Test Ratings on the website are from 01/01/1950 onwards (Know Why). Most of our ratings are dynamic, and as new matches are played, the rating of earlier batsmen may change if current batsmen set new benchmarks. Brief explanation of the ratings is given before each section (Detailed Explanation). Here are the Top 10 Indian opening batsmen in Test Cricket since 1950.

*Note: All Test Ratings are updated till 2025-02-15

CONTENTS
1. THE CRITERIA
2. QUALIFICATION
3. PRIMARY CRITERIA
3.1. PROLIFIC
3.2. CONSISTENT
3.2.1. Against All Teams
3.2.2. Against Top Teams
3.3. BIG INNINGS POTENTIAL
3.4. ATTACKING
3.5. PRIMARY RATING
4. CONDITIONS CRITERIA
4.1. HOME/AWAY
4.1.1. At Home
4.1.2. Away From Home
4.2. FAMILIAR/UNFAMILIAR CONDITIONS
4.2.1. Familiar Conditions Rating
4.2.1.1. Asians In Asia
4.2.2. Unfamiliar Conditions Rating
4.2.2.1. Asians Outside Asia
4.3. CONDITIONS RATING
5. SECONDARY CRITERIA
5.1. TOP FORM AT HOME
5.2. TOP FORM AWAY
5.3. DIFFICULT RUNS
5.4. IMPACT INNINGS
5.5. SECONDARY RATING
6. OVERALL RATING
7. TOP TEAMS
7.1. Top Teams In Asia
7.2. Top Teams Outside Asia
Nations Filter

This rating filters the OVERALL Rating to show players only from India.

  • The Rating of the players from India remains the same as in the original OVERALL Rating.
  • Thus the Trend Setter can be from any nation and is not necessarily from India.
Position Filter

This rating filters the OVERALL Rating to include performances of opening batsmen. Innings played only at the specified position are counted in this rating.

THE CRITERIA

CRITERIA CONSTITUENTS
Primary Runs, Average, Top Inns, Strike Rate
Conditions Home, Away, In Asia, Outside Asia
Secondary Top Form Home and Away, Difficult Runs, Impact Inns
The Trend Setter (TS)

TS is the player which does the best in a criteria. The rating of all other players are calculated taking the TS as the benchmark. Know All About TS. Here is an example:-

  • TS Runs: 2,000; Player X Runs: 1,000; Section Points: 250.00
  • TS Points: 250.00(Max); Player X Points: Runs/TS Runs X 250 = 1,000/2,000 X 250 = 125.00
  • Ratings of all sections are calculated similarly with Runs being replaced by the Criteria Stat.
Top Teams (TT)

Some sections consider performances only against the top teams. Here is some information about the Top Teams:-

  • Win/Loss Ratio is used to determine top teams.
  • The top teams are calculated by decades.
  • Further, they are divided into In Asia and Outside Asia.
  • A batsman’s performace is counted in TT if it comes in the specific condition and in the specific decade.

QUALIFICATION

Min Innings 50

PRIMARY CRITERIA

The Primary Rating is divided into 4 main sections:-

CRITERIA STAT POINTS
Prolific Runs Scored 200.00
Consistent Average 500.00
Big Innings Potential Top Inns (Runs) 150.00
Attacking Strike Rate 150.00

PROLIFIC

The Eras

The time period from 1950 to present is divided into eras for this section. This is because less cricket was played earlier. To make it fair for earlier players they are compared with players of the same period with a slight reduction in points. Know More About Eras.

Era 1 MP before 1991
Era 2 MP between 1990 And 2016
Era 3 MP greater than 2015

Criteria: Points For Runs Scored

RANK ERA 1 NAT FP LP MP INNS RUNS RAT
TS SM Gavaskar IND 1971 1987 1979 203 9607 180.00
1 SM Gavaskar IND 1971 1987 1979 203 9607 180.00
2 Pankaj Roy IND 1951 1960 1955.5 74 2220 41.59
RANK ERA 2 NAT FP LP MP INNS RUNS RAT
TS AN Cook ENG 2006 2018 2012 278 11845 200.00
1 V Sehwag IND 2002 2013 2007.5 170 8207 138.57
2 G Gambhir IND 2004 2016 2010 101 4119 69.55
3 M Vijay IND 2008 2018 2013 100 3880 65.51
4 NS Sidhu IND 1983 1999 1991 69 2911 49.15
5 W Jaffer IND 2000 2008 2004 58 1944 32.82
RANK ERA 3 NAT FP LP MP INNS RUNS RAT
TS DA Warner AUS 2011 2024 2017.5 202 8747 170.00
1 KL Rahul IND 2015 2025 2020 83 2803 54.48
2 RG Sharma IND 2019 2024 2021.5 66 2697 52.42
3 S Dhawan IND 2013 2018 2015.5 58 2315 44.99

CONSISTENT

R Ave

Relative Average (R Ave) is a more accurate type of average. Know How It Is Calculated. Briefly, it takes into account:-

  • Strength of Opposition.
  • Positions at which a batsman has played.
  • Venues at which he has played.
  • Time Period in which he has been active

Criteria: Points For Relative Average

Min Qualification For TS
Min Runs 2500

Against All Teams

RANK BATSMAN INNS NO RUNS AVE R AVE RAT
TS UT Khawaja 72 9 3289 52.21 58.67 250.00
1 SM Gavaskar 203 12 9607 50.30 51.54 219.63
2 V Sehwag 170 6 8207 50.04 48.84 208.09
3 RG Sharma 66 3 2697 42.81 48.48 206.57
4 NS Sidhu 69 1 2911 42.81 44.26 188.58
5 S Dhawan 58 1 2315 40.61 43.01 183.27
6 G Gambhir 101 5 4119 42.91 41.98 178.88
7 M Vijay 100 1 3880 39.19 41.10 175.14
8 KL Rahul 83 3 2803 35.04 38.29 163.16
9 Pankaj Roy 74 4 2220 31.71 37.53 159.89
10 W Jaffer 58 1 1944 34.11 34.19 145.67

Against Top Teams

RANK BATSMAN INNS NO RUNS AVE R AVE RAT
TS UT Khawaja 66 9 3069 53.84 60.51 250.00
1 RG Sharma 60 3 2628 46.11 52.21 215.71
2 V Sehwag 133 4 6724 52.12 50.87 210.16
3 SM Gavaskar 177 11 8116 48.89 50.10 207.00
4 NS Sidhu 62 1 2609 42.77 44.22 182.69
5 G Gambhir 85 3 3374 41.15 40.26 166.33
6 M Vijay 73 1 2643 36.71 38.50 159.06
7 S Dhawan 49 1 1654 34.46 36.49 150.77
8 KL Rahul 60 1 1967 33.34 36.43 150.53
9 Pankaj Roy 72 4 2047 30.10 35.62 147.16
10 W Jaffer 43 0 1278 29.72 29.79 123.09

BIG INNINGS POTENTIAL

Ave HS

In this criteria, we have taken the top 7 scores of the batsman in the specific condition. Average High Score (Ave HS) is simply the total runs in the 7 innings divided by 7.

Criteria: Points For Runs Scored In The Top 7 Inns

RANK BATSMAN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 AVE HS RAT
TS V Sehwag 319 309 293 254 201* 201 195 253.14 150.00
1 V Sehwag 319 309 293 254 201* 201 195 253.14 150.00
2 SM Gavaskar 221 220 205 182* 176 172 172 192.57 114.11
3 G Gambhir 206 179 167 167 139 137 116 158.71 94.05
4 M Vijay 167 155 153 150 146 144 139 150.57 89.22
4 RG Sharma 212 176 161 131 127 127 120 150.57 89.22
6 S Dhawan 190 187 173 134 119 115 107 146.43 86.77
7 KL Rahul 199 158 149 129 123 110 108 139.43 82.62
8 W Jaffer 212 202 138* 116 100 86 81 133.57 79.15
9 NS Sidhu 201 131 124 116 111 107 106 128.00 75.85
10 Pankaj Roy 173 150 140 111 99 90 85 121.14 71.78

ATTACKING

R SR

Relative Strike Rate (R SR) is calculated using the same method as R Ave with average being replaced with SR. Batsman who were active in earlier times benefit from this as SR was generally low earlier.

R4BF

Balls played by batsmen for many inns is not available for earlier times. When such is the case, we have used Runs For Balls Faced (R4BF) to determine the Strike Rate. This is the runs scored by the batsman for the available data of balls.

Criteria: Points For R SR

Min Qualification For TS
Min Runs 2500
Min Average 25
RANK BATSMAN R4BF BF SR R SR RAT
TS V Sehwag 8207 9875 83.11 80.26 150.00
1 V Sehwag 8207 9875 83.11 80.26 150.00
2 S Dhawan 2315 3458 66.95 65.08 121.64
3 RG Sharma 2697 4592 58.73 55.18 103.13
4 Pankaj Roy 441 1107 39.84 54.90 102.61
5 SM Gavaskar 6432 14626 43.98 51.07 95.44
6 G Gambhir 4119 7922 51.99 50.16 93.75
7 KL Rahul 2803 5473 51.22 49.59 92.68
8 NS Sidhu 2891 6611 43.73 48.46 90.57
9 W Jaffer 1944 4045 48.06 47.11 88.06
10 M Vijay 3880 8358 46.42 45.29 84.65

PRIMARY RATING

The total of the above four criteria comes out to be 1,000.00 points. The Primary Rating is the addition of the points a batsman scored in the four criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is half of the OVERALL Rating, i.e. 500.00 pts.

RANK BATSMAN PRO CON BIP ATT RAT PRI PTS
1 V Sehwag 138.57 418.26 150.00 150.00 856.83 428.42
2 SM Gavaskar 180.00 426.63 114.11 95.44 816.18 408.09
3 RG Sharma 52.42 422.28 89.22 103.13 667.04 333.52
4 G Gambhir 69.55 345.20 94.05 93.75 602.55 301.27
5 S Dhawan 44.99 334.04 86.77 121.64 587.44 293.72
6 NS Sidhu 49.15 371.28 75.85 90.57 586.85 293.42
7 M Vijay 65.51 334.19 89.22 84.65 573.58 286.79
8 KL Rahul 54.48 313.69 82.62 92.68 543.47 271.73
9 Pankaj Roy 41.59 307.05 71.78 102.61 523.05 261.52
10 W Jaffer 32.82 268.76 79.15 88.06 468.79 234.39

CONDITIONS CRITERIA

The Conditions

The Conditions Ratings are calculated by applying the four criteria of the Primary Rating to diffirent conditions. If Innings are less than the Qualification than the Player gets 50% of the Points. Click on the Rating Titles to see how they were calculated.

The four conditions criteria and thier weightage is as follows:-

CRITERIA POINTS
Home 250.00
Away 1,000.00
Familiar Conditions 250.00
Unfamiliar Conditions 1,000.00

HOME/AWAY

HOME/AWAY RATING

Points to note:-

  • U.A.E. is considered as a second Home for Pakistan and Afghanistan.
  • All Home and Away stats of Pakistani and Afghani batsmen are calculated accordingly.

At Home

Min Innings: 20

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 V Sehwag 85 4496 54.83 84.43 905.67 226.42
2 SM Gavaskar 103 4738 47.86 45.79 779.62 194.91
3 RG Sharma 41 1766 44.15 66.04 710.67 177.67
4 NS Sidhu 24 1435 59.79 44.50 702.17 175.54
5 M Vijay 45 2185 49.66 49.51 660.62 165.16
6 G Gambhir 59 2322 40.74 51.97 598.83 149.71
7 Pankaj Roy 40 1353 35.61 44.53 565.40 141.35
8 KL Rahul 24 869 39.50 56.72 514.33 128.58
9 S Dhawan 17 710 44.38 72.97 500.00 125.00
10 W Jaffer 21 800 38.10 48.75 495.83 123.96

Away From Home

Min Innings: 20

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 SM Gavaskar 100 4869 52.92 41.98 787.30 787.30
2 V Sehwag 85 3711 45.26 81.56 747.52 747.52
3 S Dhawan 41 1605 39.15 64.59 581.70 581.70
4 G Gambhir 42 1797 46.08 52.03 552.50 552.50
5 KL Rahul 59 1934 33.34 49.07 535.96 535.96
6 RG Sharma 25 931 40.48 48.54 533.27 533.27
7 NS Sidhu 45 1476 33.55 43.02 484.47 484.47
8 M Vijay 55 1695 30.82 42.97 463.39 463.39
9 Pankaj Roy 34 867 27.09 NK 423.92 423.92
10 W Jaffer 37 1144 31.78 47.59 400.63 400.63

FAMILIAR/UNFAMILIAR CONDITIONS

FAMILIAR/UNFAMILIAR CONDITIONS RATING

Points to note:-

  • Unfamiliar Conditions (UC) is Outside Asia for Asians and In Asia for Non Asians.
  • Familiar Conditions (FC) are the opposite.

Familiar Conditions Rating

Asians In Asia

Min Innings: 20

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 V Sehwag 109 6091 58.57 85.74 977.41 244.35
2 SM Gavaskar 122 5739 49.47 45.95 779.79 194.95
3 S Dhawan 24 1403 61.00 75.27 717.03 179.26
4 RG Sharma 41 1766 44.15 66.04 681.75 170.44
5 NS Sidhu 37 2085 56.35 44.94 676.66 169.16
6 M Vijay 51 2516 50.32 49.98 639.52 159.88
7 G Gambhir 73 3015 43.07 54.39 610.61 152.65
8 Pankaj Roy 50 1626 35.35 44.53 555.58 138.89
9 W Jaffer 24 938 40.78 50.05 496.60 124.15
10 KL Rahul 36 1194 35.12 55.77 491.20 122.80

Unfamiliar Conditions Rating

Asians Outside Asia

Min Innings: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 SM Gavaskar 81 3868 51.57 40.94 943.46 943.46
2 V Sehwag 61 2116 35.27 76.36 785.84 785.84
3 KL Rahul 47 1609 34.98 48.29 687.53 687.53
4 G Gambhir 28 1104 42.46 46.41 614.63 614.63
5 RG Sharma 25 931 40.48 48.54 590.06 590.06
6 M Vijay 49 1364 27.84 41.03 566.92 566.92
7 W Jaffer 34 1006 29.59 46.34 519.79 519.79
8 S Dhawan 34 912 26.82 57.21 498.27 498.27
9 NS Sidhu 32 826 26.65 40.97 482.57 482.57
10 Pankaj Roy 24 594 24.75 NK 415.78 415.78

CONDITIONS RATING

The total of the above four criteria comes out to be 2,500.00 points. The Conditions Rating is the addition of the points a batsman scored in the four criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is one-fourth of the OVERALL Rating, i.e. 250 pts.

RANK BATSMAN AWAY HOME UC FC TOT CON PTS
1 SM Gavaskar 787.30 194.91 943.46 194.95 2,120.62 212.06
2 V Sehwag 747.52 226.42 785.84 244.35 2,004.13 200.41
3 KL Rahul 535.96 128.58 687.53 122.80 1,474.88 147.49
4 RG Sharma 533.27 177.67 590.06 170.44 1,471.43 147.14
5 G Gambhir 552.50 149.71 614.63 152.65 1,469.48 146.95
6 S Dhawan 581.70 125.00 498.27 179.26 1,384.23 138.42
7 M Vijay 463.39 165.16 566.92 159.88 1,355.35 135.53
8 NS Sidhu 484.47 175.54 482.57 169.16 1,311.74 131.17
9 W Jaffer 400.63 123.96 519.79 124.15 1,168.52 116.85
10 Pankaj Roy 423.92 141.35 415.78 138.89 1,119.95 111.99

SECONDARY CRITERIA

The Secondary Rating consists of four parts. If Innings are less than the Qualification than the Player gets 50% of the Points. Click on the Rating Titles to see how they were calculated.

The four secondary criteria and thier weightage is as follows:-

CRITERIA POINTS
Top Form Home 200.00
Top Form Away 800.00
Difficult Runs 500.00
Impact Innings 1,000.00
TOP FORM RATING

Points to note about Top Form Rating:-

  • Top Form is calculated by taking the best 30 consecutive innings of a batsman.
  • There are two TF Ratings used in our OVERALL Rating: Home and Away.

TOP FORM AT HOME

Min Innings: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 V Sehwag 30 1905 63.50 95.11 851.18 170.24
2 SM Gavaskar 30 1870 66.79 50.67 749.28 149.86
3 RG Sharma 30 1530 52.76 65.52 681.03 136.21
4 G Gambhir 30 1584 54.62 54.04 644.57 128.91
5 NS Sidhu 24 1435 59.79 44.50 595.56 119.11
6 M Vijay 30 1409 48.59 47.97 577.67 115.53
7 Pankaj Roy 30 1127 40.25 44.96 538.03 107.61
8 S Dhawan 17 710 44.38 72.97 474.82 94.96
9 KL Rahul 24 869 39.50 56.72 453.68 90.74
10 W Jaffer 21 800 38.10 48.75 428.61 85.72

TOP FORM AWAY

Min Innings: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 V Sehwag 30 1767 60.93 83.66 868.43 694.74
2 SM Gavaskar 30 1851 63.83 45.52 783.85 627.08
3 G Gambhir 30 1591 58.93 54.32 695.56 556.45
4 S Dhawan 30 1406 46.87 67.73 681.40 545.12
5 M Vijay 30 1357 45.23 46.31 608.64 486.91
6 NS Sidhu 30 1227 40.90 44.86 571.48 457.18
7 KL Rahul 30 1075 35.83 54.43 542.36 433.89
8 W Jaffer 30 1095 37.76 49.28 530.45 424.36
9 RG Sharma 25 931 40.48 48.54 498.84 399.07
10 Pankaj Roy 30 828 29.57 NK 446.98 357.58

DIFFICULT RUNS

DIFF RNS RATING

Points to note:-

  • Difficult Runs are runs scored in the first and fourth innings after losing the toss.
  • Only performances against Top Teams are considered in this rating.

Min Innings: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 SM Gavaskar 31 1432 55.08 44.70 963.58 481.79
2 RG Sharma 17 490 35.00 58.13 560.16 280.08
3 V Sehwag 26 631 27.43 79.57 535.19 267.59
4 W Jaffer 9 284 31.56 54.20 500.00 250.00
4 Pankaj Roy 9 322 53.67 NK 500.00 250.00
6 KL Rahul 14 380 27.14 52.56 478.30 239.15
7 NS Sidhu 10 336 33.60 43.75 465.00 232.50
8 M Vijay 15 369 24.60 40.42 389.65 194.83
9 G Gambhir 14 334 25.69 41.08 363.55 181.78
10 S Dhawan 11 171 15.55 49.28 279.40 139.70

IMPACT INNINGS

Impact Innings (II)

Impact Innings are those innings which have an impact in terms of runs or Strike Rate. Know All About II. Points to note about II:-

  • 1st & 2nd and 3rd & 4th innings are clubbed together.
  • A Batsman should score at least 30 runs to qualify.
  • An Inn is included in II if it is 20% of the total runs of the higher total or
  • The runs are more than 12.5% of the total runs and
  • The SR is high or in a successful chase while being Not Out.

Min Innings: 50

RANK BATSMAN DIS II II/Dis% RAT WTG
1 SM Gavaskar 191 65 34.03 975.41 975.41
2 V Sehwag 164 49 29.88 782.58 782.58
3 RG Sharma 63 16 25.40 654.14 654.14
4 G Gambhir 96 18 18.75 505.76 505.76
5 Pankaj Roy 70 15 21.43 505.10 505.10
6 S Dhawan 57 13 22.81 500.30 500.30
7 M Vijay 99 20 20.20 459.56 459.56
8 NS Sidhu 68 12 17.65 441.28 441.28
9 KL Rahul 80 14 17.50 370.77 370.77
10 W Jaffer 57 8 14.04 299.32 299.32

SECONDARY RATING

The total of the above four criteria comes out to be 2,500.00 points. Secondary Rating is the addition of the points a batsman scored in the four criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is one-fourth of the OVERALL Rating, i.e. 250.00 pts.

RANK BATSMAN TF HM TF AW DIF RNS II TOT SEC RAT
1 SM Gavaskar 149.86 627.08 481.79 975.41 2,234.14 223.41
2 V Sehwag 170.24 694.74 267.59 782.58 1,915.15 191.52
3 RG Sharma 136.21 399.07 280.08 654.14 1,469.50 146.95
4 G Gambhir 128.91 556.45 181.78 505.76 1,372.90 137.29
5 S Dhawan 94.96 545.12 139.70 500.30 1,280.09 128.01
6 M Vijay 115.53 486.91 194.83 459.56 1,256.83 125.68
7 NS Sidhu 119.11 457.18 232.50 441.28 1,250.07 125.01
8 Pankaj Roy 107.61 357.58 250.00 505.10 1,220.29 122.03
9 KL Rahul 90.74 433.89 239.15 370.77 1,134.54 113.45
10 W Jaffer 85.72 424.36 250.00 299.32 1,059.41 105.94

OVERALL RATING

The OVERALL Rating is the addition of the points of all the above criteria. The rating is out of 1,000 Pts. Half the points are for Primary Criteria; one-fourth for Conditions; and one-fourth for Secondary Criteria.

RANK OV RANK BATSMAN NAT PRI RAT CON RAT SEC RAT FIN RAT
1 1 SM Gavaskar IND 408.09 212.06 223.41 843.57
2 2 V Sehwag IND 428.42 200.41 191.52 820.34
3 25 RG Sharma IND 333.52 147.14 146.95 627.61
4 37 G Gambhir IND 301.27 146.95 137.29 585.51
5 48 S Dhawan IND 293.72 138.42 128.01 560.15
6 52 NS Sidhu IND 293.42 131.17 125.01 549.60
7 53 M Vijay IND 286.79 135.53 125.68 548.01
8 56 KL Rahul IND 271.73 147.49 113.45 532.68
9 65 Pankaj Roy IND 261.52 111.99 122.03 495.55
10 73 W Jaffer IND 234.39 116.85 105.94 457.19

TOP TEAMS

Top Teams In Asia

DECADE OF MAT 1 2 3 4 5 6
1950s AUS WI PAK IND ENG
1960s WI AUS PAK IND NZ ENG
1970s PAK ENG IND WI SA
1980s PAK WI ENG NZ IND
1990s IND PAK SA AUS SL WI
2000s AUS IND SL PAK SA ENG
2010s IND PAK SL ENG NZ SA
2020s IND AUS PAK NZ ENG SL

Top Teams Outside Asia

DECADE OF MAT 1 2 3 4 5 6
1950s AUS ENG WI SA
1960s ENG AUS WI SA NZ
1970s SA ENG WI AUS IND
1980s WI NZ AUS ENG PAK
1990s AUS SA WI PAK ENG NZ
2000s AUS ENG SA IND NZ PAK
2010s SA AUS ENG NZ IND PAK
2020s AUS ENG NZ SA IND WI

Leave a Comment