Tests Decades - Best Batsmen In 2000s Featured

Top Test Batsmen of the Decade (2000 – 2009)

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This Rating takes into account only the matches played in the 2000s. Brief explanation of the ratings is given before each section (Detailed Explanation). Here are the Top 10 batsmen in Test Cricket in the 2000s.

*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. 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. IMPACT INNINGS
5.5. 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 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

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

Min Qualification For TS
Min Runs 2500

Against All Teams

RANK BATSMAN INNS NO RUNS AVE R AVE RAT
TS JH Kallis 174 27 8630 58.71 55.07 250.00
1 JH Kallis 174 27 8630 58.71 55.07 250.00
2 Mohammad Yousuf 121 11 6439 58.54 54.37 246.81
3 RT Ponting 184 22 9458 58.38 53.61 243.38
4 RS Dravid 179 23 8558 54.86 51.11 232.05
5 ML Hayden 172 14 8364 52.94 51.00 231.51
6 V Sehwag 123 4 6248 52.50 50.83 230.77
7 DPMD Jayawardena 160 12 8187 55.32 50.71 230.22
8 KC Sangakkara 147 10 7549 55.10 50.67 230.03
9 BC Lara 120 2 6380 54.07 50.26 228.15
10 SR Tendulkar 150 16 7129 53.20 48.82 221.62

Against Top Teams

RANK BATSMAN INNS NO RUNS AVE R AVE RAT
TS S Chanderpaul 130 22 5899 54.62 52.40 250.00
1 V Sehwag 101 3 5229 53.36 51.66 246.46
2 RT Ponting 139 13 7079 56.18 51.59 246.14
3 JH Kallis 128 15 5968 52.81 49.54 236.36
4 DPMD Jayawardena 118 7 5960 53.69 49.22 234.84
5 BC Lara 111 1 5686 51.69 48.05 229.23
6 KC Sangakkara 105 6 5130 51.82 47.65 227.34
7 ML Hayden 133 10 6066 49.32 47.51 226.66
8 RS Dravid 137 15 5959 48.84 45.51 217.12
9 Mohammad Yousuf 97 5 4471 48.60 45.14 215.34
10 SR Tendulkar 117 11 5050 47.64 43.72 208.56

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

Min Qualification For TS
Min Runs 2500
Min Average 25
RANK BATSMAN R4BF BF SR R SR RAT
TS AC Gilchrist 5130 6259 81.96 78.81 150.00
1 V Sehwag 6248 7767 80.44 78.21 148.86
2 RT Ponting 9458 15129 62.52 60.01 114.22
3 ML Hayden 8364 13745 60.85 58.50 111.34
4 BC Lara 6380 10773 59.22 58.01 110.41
5 KC Sangakkara 7549 13594 55.53 54.30 103.36
6 SR Tendulkar 7129 13115 54.36 53.32 101.48
7 DPMD Jayawardena 8187 15311 53.47 52.32 99.59
8 Mohammad Yousuf 6439 12144 53.02 52.16 99.28
9 JH Kallis 8630 18557 46.51 45.26 86.15
10 RS Dravid 8558 19675 43.50 42.93 81.72

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 200.00 489.52 121.47 114.22 925.21 462.61
2 V Sehwag 132.12 477.22 150.00 148.86 908.20 454.10
3 DPMD Jayawardena 173.12 465.06 143.99 99.59 881.76 440.88
4 ML Hayden 176.87 458.17 117.33 111.34 863.70 431.85
5 KC Sangakkara 159.63 457.37 138.23 103.36 858.60 429.30
6 JH Kallis 182.49 486.36 100.65 86.15 855.65 427.82
7 BC Lara 134.91 457.38 141.37 110.41 844.07 422.04
8 RS Dravid 180.97 449.17 126.89 81.72 838.75 419.37
9 Mohammad Yousuf 136.16 462.14 119.10 99.28 816.69 408.34
10 SR Tendulkar 150.75 430.18 120.97 101.48 803.38 401.69

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.

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 RT Ponting 99 5333 65.04 62.51 931.14 232.79
2 DPMD Jayawardena 82 4910 66.35 54.65 929.44 232.36
3 ML Hayden 93 5033 59.21 63.47 861.35 215.34
4 V Sehwag 59 3202 56.18 80.55 849.14 212.29
5 JH Kallis 86 4770 63.60 50.21 836.68 209.17
6 KC Sangakkara 77 4233 59.62 56.87 827.10 206.78
7 BC Lara 57 3191 58.02 57.94 783.91 195.98
8 Mohammad Yousuf 48 2997 69.70 53.66 777.81 194.45
9 RS Dravid 79 3683 53.38 42.64 708.03 177.01
10 SR Tendulkar 71 3290 52.22 51.05 677.47 169.37

Away From Home

Min Innings: 20

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 RS Dravid 100 4875 56.03 44.17 872.61 872.61
2 V Sehwag 64 3046 49.13 80.33 864.08 864.08
3 SR Tendulkar 79 3839 54.07 57.56 834.73 834.73
4 BC Lara 63 3189 50.62 60.56 810.99 810.99
5 RT Ponting 85 4125 51.56 62.53 807.26 807.26
6 KC Sangakkara 70 3316 50.24 53.91 783.49 783.49
7 Mohammad Yousuf 73 3442 51.37 52.48 780.26 780.26
8 JH Kallis 88 3860 53.61 42.62 773.43 773.43
9 ML Hayden 79 3331 45.63 57.28 749.29 749.29
10 DPMD Jayawardena 78 3277 44.28 51.80 715.37 715.37

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

Non Asians Outside Asia

Min Innings: 20

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 RT Ponting 157 8421 61.92 63.37 920.95 230.24
2 ML Hayden 137 6701 53.61 61.16 806.78 201.70
3 JH Kallis 141 7171 59.76 47.53 804.38 201.09
4 BC Lara 109 5244 49.01 59.12 753.99 188.50

Asians In Asia

Min Innings: 20

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 DPMD Jayawardena 114 6472 62.23 54.57 901.42 225.35
2 V Sehwag 75 4301 59.74 82.28 900.03 225.01
3 KC Sangakkara 103 5577 58.09 56.38 815.62 203.91
4 Mohammad Yousuf 72 3977 63.13 53.98 737.61 184.40
5 RS Dravid 107 5037 54.16 44.50 731.90 182.97
6 SR Tendulkar 90 4209 53.28 52.63 682.94 170.73

Unfamiliar Conditions Rating

Non Asians In Asia

Min Innings: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 BC Lara 11 1136 103.27 59.70 876.61 876.61
2 ML Hayden 35 1663 50.39 59.63 767.36 767.36
3 JH Kallis 33 1459 54.04 42.05 681.26 681.26
4 RT Ponting 27 1037 39.88 56.36 598.17 598.17

Asians Outside Asia

Min Innings: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 RS Dravid 72 3521 55.89 42.13 929.49 929.49
2 SR Tendulkar 60 2920 53.09 57.05 894.61 894.61
3 Mohammad Yousuf 49 2462 52.38 51.54 839.83 839.83
4 KC Sangakkara 44 1972 48.10 53.25 757.91 757.91
5 V Sehwag 48 1947 41.43 76.65 751.70 751.70
6 DPMD Jayawardena 46 1715 38.98 49.68 621.03 621.03

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 RS Dravid 872.61 177.01 929.49 182.97 2,162.08 216.21
2 BC Lara 810.99 195.98 876.61 188.50 2,072.07 207.21
3 SR Tendulkar 834.73 169.37 894.61 170.73 2,069.44 206.94
4 V Sehwag 864.08 212.29 751.70 225.01 2,053.08 205.31
5 Mohammad Yousuf 780.26 194.45 839.83 184.40 1,998.95 199.89
6 KC Sangakkara 783.49 206.78 757.91 203.91 1,952.08 195.21
7 ML Hayden 749.29 215.34 767.36 201.70 1,933.67 193.37
8 RT Ponting 807.26 232.79 598.17 230.24 1,868.46 186.85
9 JH Kallis 773.43 209.17 681.26 201.09 1,864.96 186.50
10 DPMD Jayawardena 715.37 232.36 621.03 225.35 1,794.11 179.41

SECONDARY CRITERIA

The Secondary Rating consists of four parts. If Innings are less than the Qualification than the Player gets 50% of the Points.

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 DECADES Rating: Home and Away.

TOP FORM AT HOME

Min Innings: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 BC Lara 30 2350 83.93 64.45 925.08 185.02
2 KC Sangakkara 30 2220 82.22 61.38 896.09 179.22
3 DPMD Jayawardena 30 2228 82.52 53.95 895.67 179.13
4 ML Hayden 30 2195 84.42 72.06 889.70 177.94
5 RT Ponting 30 2065 89.78 60.61 865.35 173.07
6 JH Kallis 30 2197 91.54 53.77 841.47 168.29
7 Mohammad Yousuf 30 2077 76.93 57.23 798.85 159.77
8 V Sehwag 30 1723 61.54 74.33 771.84 154.37
9 SR Tendulkar 30 1758 62.79 52.79 686.90 137.38
10 RS Dravid 30 1557 62.28 44.25 660.97 132.19

TOP FORM AWAY

Min Innings: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 RS Dravid 30 2209 88.36 48.87 936.08 748.86
2 V Sehwag 30 1782 61.45 85.10 856.84 685.47
3 SR Tendulkar 30 1809 75.38 55.59 828.85 663.08
4 RT Ponting 30 1966 75.62 66.49 825.66 660.53
5 BC Lara 30 1921 64.03 60.87 820.46 656.37
6 JH Kallis 30 1811 86.24 45.13 782.18 625.74
7 Mohammad Yousuf 30 1730 64.07 60.32 772.44 617.95
8 ML Hayden 30 1644 60.89 60.55 730.05 584.04
9 DPMD Jayawardena 30 1571 54.17 53.65 713.33 570.66
10 KC Sangakkara 30 1478 52.79 55.11 671.84 537.47

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 RT Ponting 28 1390 66.19 66.76 937.71 468.85
2 ML Hayden 28 1275 57.95 66.34 865.82 432.91
3 DPMD Jayawardena 22 943 49.63 50.40 707.32 353.66
4 JH Kallis 26 942 44.86 41.64 632.33 316.17
5 SR Tendulkar 20 731 45.69 54.63 613.27 306.63
6 KC Sangakkara 21 769 36.62 58.88 602.22 301.11
7 Mohammad Yousuf 22 705 39.17 50.50 551.84 275.92
8 V Sehwag 18 550 34.38 71.34 540.97 270.48
9 BC Lara 19 633 33.32 55.28 537.20 268.60
10 RS Dravid 26 703 35.15 36.42 490.45 245.22

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 Mohammad Yousuf 110 37 33.64 803.54 803.54
2 JH Kallis 147 46 31.29 790.73 790.73
3 SR Tendulkar 134 43 32.09 779.60 779.60
4 RT Ponting 162 47 29.01 772.12 772.12
5 RS Dravid 156 45 28.85 762.95 762.95
6 BC Lara 118 36 30.51 762.18 762.18
7 V Sehwag 119 35 29.41 693.67 693.67
8 KC Sangakkara 137 38 27.74 681.43 681.43
9 ML Hayden 158 41 25.95 669.04 669.04
10 DPMD Jayawardena 148 39 26.35 623.71 623.71

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 DECADES Rating, i.e. 250.00 pts.

RANK BATSMAN TF HM TF AW DIF RNS II TOT SEC RAT
1 RT Ponting 173.07 660.53 468.85 772.12 2,074.57 207.46
2 JH Kallis 168.29 625.74 316.17 790.73 1,900.93 190.09
3 RS Dravid 132.19 748.86 245.22 762.95 1,889.23 188.92
4 SR Tendulkar 137.38 663.08 306.63 779.60 1,886.69 188.67
5 BC Lara 185.02 656.37 268.60 762.18 1,872.17 187.22
6 ML Hayden 177.94 584.04 432.91 669.04 1,863.93 186.39
7 Mohammad Yousuf 159.77 617.95 275.92 803.54 1,857.18 185.72
8 V Sehwag 154.37 685.47 270.48 693.67 1,803.99 180.40
9 DPMD Jayawardena 179.13 570.66 353.66 623.71 1,727.16 172.72
10 KC Sangakkara 179.22 537.47 301.11 681.43 1,699.24 169.92

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 462.61 186.85 207.46 856.91
2 V Sehwag IND 454.10 205.31 180.40 839.81
3 RS Dravid IND 419.37 216.21 188.92 824.50
4 BC Lara WI 422.04 207.21 187.22 816.46
5 ML Hayden AUS 431.85 193.37 186.39 811.61
6 JH Kallis SA 427.82 186.50 190.09 804.41
7 SR Tendulkar IND 401.69 206.94 188.67 797.30
8 KC Sangakkara SL 429.30 195.21 169.92 794.43
9 Mohammad Yousuf PAK 408.34 199.89 185.72 793.96
10 DPMD Jayawardena SL 440.88 179.41 172.72 793.01

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

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