Tests - Best Batsmen Against Top Teams

Top 25 Test Batsmen Against Top Teams

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All Test Ratings on the website are from 01/01/1950 onwards (Know Why). They are updated till 2026-02-05. Brief explanation of the ratings is given before each section and at the end (Detailed Explanation). Here are the Top 25 batsmen against Top Teams in Test cricket.

CONTENTS
1. THE CRITERIA
2. QUALIFICATION
3. PROLIFIC
4. CONSISTENT
4.1. Against Top Teams
5. ATTACKING
5.1. Against Top Teams
6. BIG INNINGS POTENTIAL
6.1. Against Top Teams
7. TOP TEAMS RATING
8. BRIEF EXPLANATION
8.1. Dynamic Nature
8.2. Trend Setter (TS)
8.3. Abbreviations
TT RATING

Points to note about TOP TEAMS Rating:-

  • An opposition is counted as a TT considering its Win/Loss (WL) Ratios in last 7 years.
  • Home, Away, In Asia, Outside Asia and Overall WL Ratio is considered.
  • The WL Ratio should be more than a certain value overall or in specific condition.

THE CRITERIA

The TT Rating is divided into 4 main sections:-

CRITERIA STAT POINTS
Prolific Runs Scored 300.00
Consistent Average 300.00
Attacking Strike Rate 100.00
Big Innings Potential Top Scores 300.00

QUALIFICATION

Min Innings (TT) 20
Min Career Runs 1000

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 1976
Era 2 MP between 1975 And 1996
Era 3 MP between 1995 And 2016
Era 4 MP greater than 2015

CRITERIA: Points For Runs Scored

RANK ERA 1 NAT FP LP MP INNS RUNS RAT
TS GS Sobers WI 1954 1974 1964 124 6474 280.00
1 GS Sobers WI 1954 1974 1964 124 6474 280.00
2 CH Lloyd WI 1966 1984 1975 127 5403 233.68
3 RB Kanhai WI 1957 1974 1965.5 120 5080 219.71
RANK ERA 2 NAT FP LP MP INNS RUNS RAT
TS SM Gavaskar IND 1971 1987 1979 176 8276 290.00
1 SM Gavaskar IND 1971 1987 1979 176 8276 290.00
2 AR Border AUS 1978 1994 1986 187 7820 274.02
3 SR Waugh AUS 1985 2004 1994.5 162 6344 222.30
4 IVA Richards WI 1974 1991 1982.5 105 5435 190.45
RANK ERA 3 NAT FP LP MP INNS RUNS RAT
TS SR Tendulkar IND 1989 2013 2001 218 9408 300.00
1 SR Tendulkar IND 1989 2013 2001 218 9408 300.00
2 RT Ponting AUS 1995 2012 2003.5 184 8525 271.84
3 DPMD Jayawardena SL 1997 2014 2005.5 176 8186 261.03
4 KC Sangakkara SL 2000 2015 2007.5 160 7980 254.46
5 S Chanderpaul WI 1994 2015 2004.5 188 7794 248.53
6 AN Cook ENG 2006 2018 2012 183 7551 240.78
7 JH Kallis SA 1995 2013 2004 166 7539 240.40
8 BC Lara WI 1990 2006 1998 153 7514 239.60
9 RS Dravid IND 1996 2012 2004 186 7255 231.35
10 Younis Khan PAK 2000 2017 2008.5 142 6705 213.81
11 V Sehwag IND 2001 2013 2007 123 6170 196.75
12 HM Amla SA 2004 2019 2011.5 145 6095 194.36
13 MJ Clarke AUS 2004 2015 2009.5 143 6076 193.75
14 AB de Villiers SA 2004 2018 2011 132 5791 184.66
15 JL Langer AUS 1993 2007 2000 137 5711 182.11
RANK ERA 4 NAT FP LP MP INNS RUNS RAT
TS JE Root ENG 2012 2026 2019 213 9590 300.00
1 JE Root ENG 2012 2026 2019 213 9590 300.00
2 SPD Smith AUS 2010 2026 2018 169 8166 255.45
3 V Kohli IND 2011 2025 2018 160 6859 214.57

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 1600

Against Top Teams

RANK BATSMAN INNS NO RUNS 100s AVE R AVE RAT
TS GS Sobers 124 16 6474 20 59.94 66.47 300.00
1 GS Sobers 124 16 6474 20 59.94 66.47 300.00
2 IVA Richards 105 6 5435 17 54.90 59.14 266.93
3 SPD Smith 169 17 8166 28 53.72 56.87 256.65
4 AR Border 187 31 7820 21 50.13 55.96 252.55
5 SM Gavaskar 176 13 8276 27 50.77 55.34 249.77
6 BC Lara 153 4 7514 19 50.43 54.55 246.19
7 JE Root 213 19 9590 27 49.43 54.51 246.02
8 JH Kallis 166 21 7539 26 51.99 54.35 245.29
9 V Sehwag 123 3 6170 18 51.42 53.56 241.72
10 KC Sangakkara 160 7 7980 21 52.16 52.63 237.53
11 RT Ponting 184 16 8525 29 50.74 52.07 234.99
12 Younis Khan 142 10 6705 23 50.80 51.13 230.77
13 S Chanderpaul 188 26 7794 20 48.11 51.01 230.25
14 SR Waugh 162 21 6344 16 44.99 49.92 225.29
15 SR Tendulkar 218 18 9408 26 47.04 49.52 223.50
16 CH Lloyd 127 11 5403 14 46.58 49.26 222.34
17 DPMD Jayawardena 176 5 8186 24 47.87 48.37 218.30
18 V Kohli 160 9 6859 22 45.42 48.25 217.75
19 AB de Villiers 132 10 5791 13 47.47 48.20 217.55
20 RB Kanhai 120 6 5080 12 44.56 47.31 213.55
21 JL Langer 137 9 5711 15 44.62 46.87 211.52
22 MJ Clarke 143 14 6076 20 47.10 46.25 208.75
23 RS Dravid 186 20 7255 16 43.70 46.17 208.39
24 HM Amla 145 11 6095 19 45.49 46.13 208.20
25 AN Cook 183 6 7551 18 42.66 44.36 200.21

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 1600
Min Average 25

Against Top Teams

RANK BATSMAN R4BF BF SR R SR RAT
TS N Kapil Dev 3559 4345 81.91 93.76 100.00
1 V Sehwag 6170 7528 81.96 81.33 86.74
2 IVA Richards 4708 6717 70.09 79.85 85.16
3 CH Lloyd 3810 6649 57.30 67.40 71.89
4 GS Sobers 2407 4669 51.55 65.41 69.77
5 BC Lara 7514 12651 59.39 63.94 68.20
6 RB Kanhai 1717 3595 47.76 60.96 65.02
7 RT Ponting 8525 14601 58.39 59.16 63.09
8 JL Langer 5711 10771 53.02 55.33 59.02
9 MJ Clarke 6076 10638 57.12 55.05 58.72
10 JE Root 9590 17072 56.17 54.53 58.16
11 SR Tendulkar 9408 17839 52.74 54.30 57.91
12 V Kohli 6859 12541 54.69 52.90 56.42
13 Younis Khan 6705 12692 52.83 52.46 55.95
14 KC Sangakkara 7980 15354 51.97 52.26 55.74
15 SR Waugh 6344 13464 47.12 51.98 55.44
16 SM Gavaskar 5865 13388 43.81 51.85 55.30
17 AB de Villiers 5791 10889 53.18 51.54 54.97
18 DPMD Jayawardena 8186 16308 50.20 50.66 54.03
19 SPD Smith 8166 15568 52.45 50.30 53.65
20 HM Amla 6095 12721 47.91 46.52 49.61
21 JH Kallis 7539 16635 45.32 46.00 49.07
22 AR Border 7742 19453 39.80 45.47 48.49
23 S Chanderpaul 7794 18105 43.05 44.16 47.10
24 AN Cook 7551 16806 44.93 43.65 46.55
25 RS Dravid 7255 18241 39.77 40.71 43.42

BIG INNINGS POTENTIAL

Ave HS

In this criteria, the top 7 scores of the batsman have been taken. 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

Against Top Teams

RANK BATSMAN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 AVE HS RAT
TS DPMD Jayawardena 374 275 242 240 237 213* 195 253.71 300.00
1 DPMD Jayawardena 374 275 242 240 237 213* 195 253.71 300.00
2 V Sehwag 319 309 293 254 201* 201 195 253.14 299.32
3 BC Lara 400* 277 226 216 213 202 196 247.14 292.23
4 AN Cook 294 263 244* 235* 190 189 176 227.29 268.75
5 Younis Khan 313 267 218 213 199 194 177 225.86 267.06
6 KC Sangakkara 287 232 221 219 211 203 199* 224.57 265.54
7 MJ Clarke 329* 259* 230 210 187 161* 151 218.14 257.94
8 V Kohli 254* 243 235 213 186 169 167 209.57 247.80
9 GS Sobers 365* 226 178* 174 168 163* 161 205.00 242.40
10 SM Gavaskar 236* 221 220 205 182* 172 172 201.14 237.84
11 HM Amla 311* 253* 201 196 159 140 139* 199.86 236.32
12 IVA Richards 291 232 208 182* 177 145 142 196.71 232.60
12 SR Tendulkar 241* 214 203 194* 179 177 169 196.71 232.60
14 SPD Smith 239 215 211 192 178* 162* 144 191.57 226.52
15 RT Ponting 221 207 206 197 196 156 154 191.00 225.84
16 JE Root 226 218 190 180* 180 176 160 190.00 224.66
17 JL Langer 250 223 191 179* 166 146 144 185.57 219.43
18 RS Dravid 270 233 180 177 148 146* 144* 185.43 219.26
19 AB de Villiers 278* 217* 174 169 164 163 129 184.86 218.58
20 JH Kallis 201* 182* 173 162 161 155 150* 169.14 200.00
21 AR Border 205 196 162 153 150* 146* 140 164.57 194.59
21 SR Waugh 200 199 164 160 157 150 122* 164.57 194.59
23 RB Kanhai 217 158* 157 153 150 129 121 155.00 183.28
24 S Chanderpaul 203* 166 153* 147* 140 137* 136* 154.57 182.77
25 CH Lloyd 178 161* 149 132 129 121 118 141.14 166.89

TOP TEAMS RATING

The TOP TEAMS (TT) Rating is the addition of the points of all the above criteria. The rating is out of 1,000.

RANK BATSMAN PRO CON ATT BIP TT RAT
1 GS Sobers 280.00 300.00 69.77 242.40 892.17
2 BC Lara 239.60 246.19 68.20 292.23 846.22
3 DPMD Jayawardena 261.03 218.30 54.03 300.00 833.36
4 SM Gavaskar 290.00 249.77 55.30 237.84 832.91
5 JE Root 300.00 246.02 58.16 224.66 828.85
6 V Sehwag 196.75 241.72 86.74 299.32 824.54
7 SR Tendulkar 300.00 223.50 57.91 232.60 814.01
8 KC Sangakkara 254.46 237.53 55.74 265.54 813.27
9 RT Ponting 271.84 234.99 63.09 225.84 795.77
10 SPD Smith 255.45 256.65 53.65 226.52 792.28
11 IVA Richards 190.45 266.93 85.16 232.60 775.14
12 AR Border 274.02 252.55 48.49 194.59 769.66
13 Younis Khan 213.81 230.77 55.95 267.06 767.58
14 AN Cook 240.78 200.21 46.55 268.75 756.30
15 V Kohli 214.57 217.75 56.42 247.80 736.55
16 JH Kallis 240.40 245.29 49.07 200.00 734.76
17 MJ Clarke 193.75 208.75 58.72 257.94 719.15
18 S Chanderpaul 248.53 230.25 47.10 182.77 708.65
19 RS Dravid 231.35 208.39 43.42 219.26 702.42
20 SR Waugh 222.30 225.29 55.44 194.59 697.62
21 CH Lloyd 233.68 222.34 71.89 166.89 694.80
22 HM Amla 194.36 208.20 49.61 236.32 688.49
23 RB Kanhai 219.71 213.55 65.02 183.28 681.55
24 AB de Villiers 184.66 217.55 54.97 218.58 675.77
25 JL Langer 182.11 211.52 59.02 219.43 672.07

BRIEF EXPLANATION

Dynamic Nature

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.

Trend Setter (TS)

  1. TS is the player who does the best in a criteria.
  2. The rating of all other players are calculated taking the TS as the benchmark. Example:-
  3. TS Runs: 2,000; Player X Runs: 1,000; Section Points: 250.00
  4. TS Points: 250.00 (Max)
  5. Player X Points: Runs/TS Runs X 250 = 1,000/2,000 X 250 = 125.00.
  6. Ratings of all sections are calculated similarly with Runs being replaced by the Criteria Stat.
  7. Know All About the Trend Setter
    8. .

Abbreviations

  1. AVE - Average or Runs/(Inns - Not Out)
  2. BF - Balls Faced
  3. FP - First Played by Year
  4. INF - Infinite
  5. LP - Last Played by Year
  6. MP - Middle Played or (FP+LP)/2
  7. NA - Not Applicable
  8. NI - Not In Top
  9. NK - Not Known
  10. NO, * - Not Out
  11. NQ - Not Qualified
  12. OPP - Opposition
  13. R4BF - Runs for available data of balls
  14. SR - Strike Rate or Runs/Balls
  15. TS - Trend Setter
  16. TT - Top Teams

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