Tests Decades - Best Batsmen In 2000s Featured

Top Test Batsmen of the Decade (2000 – 2009)

by

Kindly switch to Landscape Mode for better viewing experience

This Rating takes into account only the matches played in the 2000s. Brief explanation of the ratings is given before each section (Detailed Explanation). It is to be noted that U.A.E. is considered as a second Home for Pakistan and all stats of Pakistani batsmen are calculated accordingly. Here are the Top 10 batsmen in Test Cricket in the 2000s.

*Note: All Test Ratings are updated till 2023-08-09

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. Non Asians Outside Asia
4.2.1.2. Asians In Asia
4.2.2. Unfamiliar Conditions Rating
4.2.2.1. Non Asians In Asia
4.2.2.2. 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. SECONDARY RATING
6. DECADES RATING
7. TOP TEAMS
7.1. Top Teams In Asia
7.2. Top Teams Outside Asia

THE CRITERIA

CRITERIA CONSTITUENTS
Primary Runs, Average, Top Inns, Strike Rate
Conditions Home, Away, In Asia, Outside Asia
Secondary Top Form Home, Top Form Away, Difficult Runs
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 25
Min Runs (TS AVE SR) 1500
Min Average (TS SR) 30

PRIMARY CRITERIA

PROLIFIC

Criteria: Points For Runs Scored

RANK BATSMAN NAT INNS RUNS RAT
TS RT Ponting AUS 184 9458 200.00
1 RT Ponting AUS 184 9458 200.00
2 JH Kallis SA 174 8630 182.49
3 RS Dravid IND 179 8558 180.97
4 ML Hayden AUS 172 8364 176.87
5 DPMD Jayawardena SL 160 8187 173.12
6 KC Sangakkara SL 147 7549 159.63
7 SR Tendulkar IND 150 7129 150.75
8 Mohammad Yousuf PAK 121 6439 136.16
9 BC Lara WI 120 6380 134.91
10 V Sehwag IND 123 6248 132.12

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

Against All Teams

RANK BATSMAN INNS NO RUNS AVE R AVE RAT
TS A Flower 42 7 2214 63.26 61.30 250.00
1 JH Kallis 174 27 8630 58.71 55.41 225.96
2 Mohammad Yousuf 121 11 6439 58.54 54.71 223.10
3 RT Ponting 184 22 9458 58.38 53.94 219.99
4 RS Dravid 179 23 8558 54.86 51.45 209.83
5 ML Hayden 172 14 8364 52.94 51.33 209.31
6 V Sehwag 123 4 6248 52.50 51.16 208.64
7 DPMD Jayawardena 160 12 8187 55.32 51.03 208.09
8 KC Sangakkara 147 10 7549 55.10 50.98 207.91
9 BC Lara 120 2 6380 54.07 50.57 206.23
10 SR Tendulkar 150 16 7129 53.20 49.14 200.40

Against Top Teams

RANK BATSMAN INNS NO RUNS AVE R AVE RAT
TS A Flower 30 5 1643 65.72 63.69 250.00
1 V Sehwag 101 3 5229 53.36 51.99 204.08
2 RT Ponting 131 11 6607 55.06 50.87 199.69
3 DPMD Jayawardena 118 7 5960 53.69 49.53 194.41
4 JH Kallis 120 14 5560 52.45 49.50 194.32
5 ML Hayden 127 8 5938 49.90 48.38 189.91
6 KC Sangakkara 105 6 5130 51.82 47.94 188.19
7 BC Lara 107 1 5355 50.52 47.25 185.47
8 RS Dravid 137 15 5959 48.84 45.81 179.83
9 Mohammad Yousuf 97 5 4471 48.60 45.42 178.28
10 SR Tendulkar 117 11 5050 47.64 44.00 172.73

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 DPMD Jayawardena 374 275 240 237 213* 195 167 243.00 143.99
3 BC Lara 400* 226 221 216 209 202 196 238.57 141.37
4 KC Sangakkara 287 270 232 230 222* 200* 192 233.29 138.23
5 RS Dravid 270 233 222 217 200* 180 177 214.14 126.89
6 RT Ponting 257 242 207 206 196 169 158 205.00 121.47
7 SR Tendulkar 248* 241* 201* 194* 193 176 176 204.14 120.97
8 Mohammad Yousuf 223 204* 203 202 192 192 191 201.00 119.10
9 ML Hayden 380 203 197 177 153 138 138 198.00 117.33
10 JH Kallis 189* 186 177 162 160 158 157* 169.86 100.65

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

RANK BATSMAN R4BF BF SR R SR RAT
TS AC Gilchrist 5130 6259 81.96 78.87 150.00
1 V Sehwag 6248 7767 80.44 78.27 148.87
2 RT Ponting 9458 15129 62.52 60.05 114.22
3 ML Hayden 8364 13745 60.85 58.54 111.35
4 BC Lara 6380 10773 59.22 58.05 110.41
5 KC Sangakkara 7549 13594 55.53 54.36 103.39
6 SR Tendulkar 7129 13115 54.36 53.37 101.50
7 DPMD Jayawardena 8187 15311 53.47 52.37 99.61
8 Mohammad Yousuf 6439 12144 53.02 52.19 99.26
9 JH Kallis 8630 18557 46.51 45.30 86.16
10 RS Dravid 8558 19675 43.50 42.97 81.73

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 DECADES Rating, i.e. 500.00 pts.

RANK BATSMAN PRO CON BIP ATT RAT PRI PTS
1 RT Ponting 200.00 419.69 121.47 114.22 855.38 427.69
2 V Sehwag 132.12 412.72 150.00 148.87 843.70 421.85
3 DPMD Jayawardena 173.12 402.50 143.99 99.61 819.23 409.62
4 ML Hayden 176.87 399.23 117.33 111.35 804.76 402.38
5 KC Sangakkara 159.63 396.10 138.23 103.39 797.35 398.68
6 JH Kallis 182.49 420.28 100.65 86.16 789.58 394.79
7 RS Dravid 180.97 389.66 126.89 81.73 779.24 389.62
8 BC Lara 134.91 391.70 141.37 110.41 778.38 389.19
9 Mohammad Yousuf 136.16 401.37 119.10 99.26 755.89 377.95
10 SR Tendulkar 150.75 373.14 120.97 101.50 746.35 373.18

CONDITIONS CRITERIA

The Conditions

The Conditions Ratings are calculated by applying the four criteria of the Primary Rating to diffirent conditions. Unfamiliar Conditions (UC) is Outside Asia for Asians and In Asia for Non Asians. Familiar Conditions (FC) is the opposite. If Innings are less than the Qualification than the Player gets 50% of the Points. Here are those conditions and their weightage:-

  • HOME – 250 PTS
  • AWAY – 1,000 PTS
  • FC – 250 PTS
  • UC – 1,000 PTS

HOME/AWAY

At Home

Min Innings: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 DPMD Jayawardena 82 4910 66.35 54.65 924.72 231.18
2 RT Ponting 99 5333 65.04 62.51 922.90 230.72
3 ML Hayden 93 5033 59.21 63.47 863.84 215.96
4 V Sehwag 59 3202 56.18 80.55 844.42 211.10
5 JH Kallis 86 4770 63.60 50.21 831.44 207.86
6 KC Sangakkara 77 4233 59.62 56.87 822.83 205.71
7 Mohammad Yousuf 48 2997 69.70 53.66 772.59 193.15
8 BC Lara 57 3191 58.02 57.94 769.97 192.49
9 RS Dravid 79 3683 53.38 42.64 704.12 176.03
10 SR Tendulkar 71 3290 52.22 51.05 673.80 168.45

Away From Home

Min Innings: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 RS Dravid 100 4875 56.03 44.17 837.51 837.51
2 V Sehwag 64 3046 49.13 80.33 832.40 832.40
3 SR Tendulkar 79 3839 54.07 57.56 801.15 801.15
4 BC Lara 63 3189 50.62 60.56 779.38 779.38
5 RT Ponting 85 4125 51.56 62.53 773.84 773.84
6 KC Sangakkara 70 3316 50.24 53.91 752.31 752.31
7 Mohammad Yousuf 73 3442 51.37 52.48 747.67 747.67
8 JH Kallis 88 3860 53.61 42.62 739.75 739.75
9 ML Hayden 79 3331 45.63 57.28 718.28 718.28
10 DPMD Jayawardena 78 3277 44.28 51.80 688.05 688.05

FAMILIAR/UNFAMILIAR CONDITIONS

Familiar Conditions Rating

Non Asians Outside Asia

Min Innings: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 RT Ponting 157 8421 61.92 63.37 937.85 234.46
2 ML Hayden 137 6701 53.61 61.16 828.18 207.05
3 JH Kallis 141 7171 59.76 47.53 820.61 205.15
4 BC Lara 109 5244 49.01 59.12 763.47 190.87

Asians In Asia

Min Innings: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 DPMD Jayawardena 114 6472 62.23 54.57 900.96 225.24
2 V Sehwag 75 4301 59.74 82.28 899.61 224.90
3 KC Sangakkara 103 5577 58.09 56.38 815.13 203.78
4 Mohammad Yousuf 72 3977 63.13 53.98 736.90 184.22
5 RS Dravid 107 5037 54.16 44.50 731.74 182.94
6 SR Tendulkar 90 4209 53.28 52.63 682.82 170.70

Unfamiliar Conditions Rating

Non Asians In Asia

Min Innings: 5

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 BC Lara 11 1136 103.27 59.70 876.64 876.64
2 ML Hayden 35 1663 50.39 59.63 766.25 766.25
3 JH Kallis 33 1459 54.04 42.05 680.60 680.60
4 RT Ponting 27 1037 39.88 56.36 597.39 597.39

Asians Outside Asia

Min Innings: 5

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 RS Dravid 72 3521 55.89 42.13 826.77 826.77
2 SR Tendulkar 60 2920 53.09 57.05 797.61 797.61
3 Mohammad Yousuf 49 2462 52.38 51.54 743.10 743.10
4 V Sehwag 48 1947 41.43 76.65 672.40 672.40
5 KC Sangakkara 44 1972 48.10 53.25 669.24 669.24
6 DPMD Jayawardena 46 1715 38.98 49.68 549.47 549.47

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 DECADES Rating, i.e. 250 pts.

RANK BATSMAN AWAY HOME UC FC TOT CON PTS
1 BC Lara 779.38 192.49 876.64 190.87 2,039.38 203.94
2 RS Dravid 837.51 176.03 826.77 182.94 2,023.25 202.32
3 V Sehwag 832.40 211.10 672.40 224.90 1,940.81 194.08
4 SR Tendulkar 801.15 168.45 797.61 170.70 1,937.92 193.79
5 ML Hayden 718.28 215.96 766.25 207.05 1,907.55 190.75
6 Mohammad Yousuf 747.67 193.15 743.10 184.22 1,868.14 186.81
7 RT Ponting 773.84 230.72 597.39 234.46 1,836.42 183.64
8 JH Kallis 739.75 207.86 680.60 205.15 1,833.36 183.34
9 KC Sangakkara 752.31 205.71 669.24 203.78 1,831.04 183.10
10 DPMD Jayawardena 688.05 231.18 549.47 225.24 1,693.94 169.39

SECONDARY CRITERIA

Top Form And Difficult Runs

The Secondary Rating consists of three parts. Top Form is calculated by taking the best 30 consecutive innings of a batsmen such that his overall points are maximum. Top Form is calculated seperately for Home and Away innings. Difficult Runs are defined as runs scored in the 1st and 4th inns after losing the toss. Moreover, only performaces against Top Teams are counted in Difficult Runs Rating. If Innings are less than the Qualification than the Player gets 50% of the Points. The three secondary criteria and thier weightage is as follows:-

  • TOP FORM AT HOME – 500 PTS
  • TOP FORM AWAY – 1,000 PTS
  • DIFF RUNS – 1,000 PTS

TOP FORM AT HOME

Min Innings: 5

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 BC Lara 30 2350 83.93 64.45 921.64 460.82
2 KC Sangakkara 30 2220 82.22 61.38 893.14 446.57
3 DPMD Jayawardena 30 2228 82.52 53.95 893.05 446.53
4 ML Hayden 30 2195 84.42 72.06 886.70 443.35
5 RT Ponting 30 2065 89.78 60.61 862.75 431.38
6 JH Kallis 30 2197 91.54 53.77 838.88 419.44
7 Mohammad Yousuf 30 2077 76.93 57.23 795.96 397.98
8 V Sehwag 30 1723 61.54 74.33 767.93 383.96
9 SR Tendulkar 30 1758 62.79 52.79 684.34 342.17
10 RS Dravid 30 1557 62.28 44.25 658.78 329.39

TOP FORM AWAY

Min Innings: 5

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 RS Dravid 30 2209 88.36 48.87 936.12 936.12
2 V Sehwag 30 1782 61.45 85.10 857.07 857.07
3 SR Tendulkar 30 1809 75.38 55.59 828.82 828.82
4 RT Ponting 30 1966 75.62 66.49 825.04 825.04
5 BC Lara 30 1921 64.03 60.87 820.48 820.48
6 JH Kallis 30 1811 86.24 45.13 781.91 781.91
7 Mohammad Yousuf 30 1730 64.07 60.32 772.39 772.39
8 ML Hayden 30 1644 60.89 60.55 729.52 729.52
9 DPMD Jayawardena 30 1571 54.17 53.65 713.17 713.17
10 KC Sangakkara 30 1478 52.79 55.11 671.63 671.63

DIFFICULT RUNS

Min Innings: 5

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 RT Ponting 25 1299 64.95 67.10 971.03 971.03
2 ML Hayden 25 1192 56.76 65.67 892.99 892.99
3 DPMD Jayawardena 22 943 49.63 50.40 749.09 749.09
4 SR Tendulkar 20 731 45.69 54.63 647.07 647.07
5 KC Sangakkara 21 769 36.62 58.88 628.64 628.64
6 JH Kallis 24 777 38.85 40.83 585.37 585.37
7 Mohammad Yousuf 22 705 39.17 50.50 581.68 581.68
8 BC Lara 18 633 35.17 55.53 568.63 568.63
9 V Sehwag 18 550 34.38 71.34 560.11 560.11
10 RS Dravid 26 703 35.15 36.42 520.38 520.38

SECONDARY RATING

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

RANK BATSMAN TF AW TF HM DF RNS TOT SEC RAT
1 RT Ponting 825.04 431.38 971.03 2,227.45 222.74
2 ML Hayden 729.52 443.35 892.99 2,065.85 206.59
3 DPMD Jayawardena 713.17 446.53 749.09 1,908.79 190.88
4 BC Lara 820.48 460.82 568.63 1,849.93 184.99
5 SR Tendulkar 828.82 342.17 647.07 1,818.06 181.81
6 V Sehwag 857.07 383.96 560.11 1,801.14 180.11
7 JH Kallis 781.91 419.44 585.37 1,786.72 178.67
8 RS Dravid 936.12 329.39 520.38 1,785.88 178.59
9 Mohammad Yousuf 772.39 397.98 581.68 1,752.04 175.20
10 KC Sangakkara 671.63 446.57 628.64 1,746.84 174.68

DECADES RATING

The DECADES 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 BATSMAN NAT PRI RAT CON RAT SEC RAT FIN RAT
1 RT Ponting AUS 427.69 183.64 222.74 834.08
2 ML Hayden AUS 402.38 190.75 206.59 799.72
3 V Sehwag IND 421.85 194.08 180.11 796.05
4 BC Lara WI 389.19 203.94 184.99 778.12
5 RS Dravid IND 389.62 202.32 178.59 770.53
6 DPMD Jayawardena SL 409.62 169.39 190.88 769.89
7 JH Kallis SA 394.79 183.34 178.67 756.80
8 KC Sangakkara SL 398.68 183.10 174.68 756.47
9 SR Tendulkar IND 373.18 193.79 181.81 748.77
10 Mohammad Yousuf PAK 377.95 186.81 175.20 739.96

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 ENG SA
1970s PAK ENG IND WI SA AUS
1980s PAK WI ENG NZ AUS
1990s IND PAK SA AUS WI
2000s AUS SL IND PAK SA ENG
2010s IND PAK SL ENG SA AUS
2020s IND ENG PAK AUS NZ

Top Teams Outside Asia

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

Leave a Comment