Top 25 Test Batsmen In Difficult Runs

All Test Ratings on the website are from 01/01/1950 onwards. Our ratings are based on conditions and diverse oppositions. Before the above mentioned date, there were primarily only two teams which dominated cricket. Moreover, matches were of unequal length with some ending in 4 days and some being timeless. Post 1950, West Indies and South Africa grew as test teams. Moreover, Asian teams India and Pakistan started improving after 1950 and became compenent at home at least. Performance in Asia and outside Asia are integral to our overall rating. How the rating works is explained in highlighted sections. So, here are the Top 25 batsmen in 1st and 4th inns after losing the toss

*Note: All Test Ratings are updated till 2023-01-08

DIFF RUNS Rating

This rating only includes stats of batsmen in 1st and 4th inns after losing the toss. The rating is divided into sections to make it easy to understand how it is calculated. Before each section, its criteria is highlighted in bold. Our ratings are dynamic, and as new matches are played, the rating of earlier batsmen may change if current batsmen set new benchmarks.

The Trend Setter

The Trend Setter (TS) is the player which does the best in a criteria. The rating of all other players are calculated as percentage points of TS. Let’s taken an example to understand it:-

  • Let’s assume that Sachin Tendulkar has scored 10,000 runs, which is the highest. This makes him the TS.
  • Another player, say Virat Kohli, has scored 5,000 runs.
  • If the rating is out of 250, Sachin will get the full points (pts), that is 250.
  • The points of Kohli are calculated as His Runs/Sachin’s Runs*250. This comes out to be 125.
  • Thus the formula is (Runs Scored/Runs Scored By TS)*Max Points.
  • All ratings are calculated similarly with Runs being replaced by the Criteria Stat.
  • For Average, a batsman is eligible to be TS only if he has scored a minimum number of runs, which is mentioned in the qualificaton.
  • For Strike Rate, a batsman is eligible to be TS only if he has scored a minimum number of runs and has a minimum average, which are mentioned in the qualificaton.
  • Lastly, it is to be noted that it is not necessary for a TS to be part of the rating as he might have topped in a criteria but not done well in others.
Top Teams (TT)

The Difficult Runs Rating considers performances only against the Top Teams. Here is some infomartion about 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.
  • To be a top team, the team should be among the top teams in the specific condition (Asia or outside Asia) or among the top teams of the decade overall.
  • A bowler’s performace is counted in TT if he palyed against it in the specific condition and in the specific decade.
  • The Top Teams may be found in the last section of the rating.

QUALIFICATION


Min Innings 10
Min Runs (TS AVE) 750
Min Runs (TS SR) 500
Min Average (TS SR) 30
The Eras

The first criteria Prolific gives points for runs scored. We have divided cricket from 1950 onwards into 3 broad eras. This has been done to make it fair for players from earlier era, when less cricket was played, and also for current players, who are in the middle of their careers. Let’s take an example:-

  • Let’s assume Ricky Ponting has scored 10,000 runs, which is the maximum and gives him 250 points.
  • Now, say Viv Richards in earlier times scored 5,000 runs, which was the max for his era.
  • If there are no eras, he would get 50% of the pts, that is 125.
  • Instead of that, we reduced 50 pts (according to %age) from the max to arrive at the figure of 200 pts for Richards.
  • Now, everyone in his era is compared to Richards and not Ponting.
  • So a player who has scored 1,000 runs in Richards’ era will get (1000/5000)*200 pts or 40pts.
  • Eras are calculated by MP, which is the mean of the years a player: First Played (FP) and Last Played (LP).

PROLIFIC


Criteria: Points For Runs Scored

Era 1 MP before 1991
Era 2 MP between 1990 and 2016
Era 3 MP greater than 2015
RANK ERA 1 NAT I1 I1 RNS I4 I4 RNS INNS RUNS RAT
TS SM Gavaskar IND 11 372 23 1175 34 1547 240.00
1 SM Gavaskar IND 11 372 23 1175 34 1547 240.00
2 DL Haynes WI 19 774 19 573 38 1347 208.97
3 IVA Richards WI 18 952 10 388 28 1340 207.89
4 G Boycott ENG 12 309 22 961 34 1270 197.03
5 GR Viswanath IND 8 547 18 608 26 1155 179.19
6 GS Chappell AUS 13 629 12 335 25 964 149.55
7 Javed Miandad PAK 10 580 12 372 22 952 147.69
8 AI Kallicharran WI 8 392 12 558 20 950 147.38
9 KR Stackpole AUS 3 158 15 655 18 813 126.13
10 GS Sobers WI 6 350 13 423 19 773 119.92
RANK ERA 2 NAT I1 I1 RNS I4 I4 RNS INNS RUNS RAT
TS S Chanderpaul WI 18 829 24 870 42 1699 250.00
1 S Chanderpaul WI 18 829 24 870 42 1699 250.00
2 RT Ponting AUS 12 607 24 1024 36 1631 239.99
3 JH Kallis SA 21 869 21 728 42 1597 234.99
4 KP Pietersen ENG 12 841 20 742 32 1583 232.93
5 SR Tendulkar IND 13 491 34 952 47 1443 212.33
6 Younis Khan PAK 14 369 20 1031 34 1400 206.00
7 DPMD Jayawardena SL 18 703 17 636 35 1339 197.03
8 AB de Villiers SA 9 634 21 677 30 1311 192.91
9 ML Hayden AUS 8 568 19 639 27 1207 177.60
10 SP Fleming NZ 15 959 10 204 25 1163 171.13
11 BB McCullum NZ 15 776 12 359 27 1135 167.01
12 Shakib Al Hasan BAN 7 504 8 338 15 842 123.90
13 L Klusener SA 9 509 4 59 13 568 83.58
RANK ERA 3 NAT I1 I1 RNS I4 I4 RNS INNS RUNS RAT
TS JE Root ENG 11 326 22 728 33 1054 210.00
1 SPD Smith AUS 10 550 17 450 27 1000 199.24
2 RR Pant IND 7 251 6 359 13 610 121.54
C Ave

The Comparative Average (C Ave) for batsmen is calculated by taken into account two factors:-

  • First is the average of batsmen at particluar positions (1-11) in a decade.
  • Second is the average of the opposition bowlers at Home, in Asia or outside Asia; whichever is applicable.
  • The average of the opposing team’s bowlers is also calculated by decades.
  • Higher C Ave suggests that more runs were given by bowlers in the above mentioned factors.
  • Thus it was easier to score runs against those oppositions and in those positions.
  • The batsmen’s points will thus be decreased accordingly.
  • Lower C Ave means the opposite.
R Ave

The Relative Average (R Ave) is calculated using the C Ave. Its formula is (Batsman’s Ave/His C Ave)*A Constant Factor. This constant doesn’t affect the rating as it is the same for everone. If your C Ave is comparatively high, your R Ave will be low; which is worse for batsmen. Broadly speaking, the following batsmen will benefit from this system:-

  • Openers, who face the new ball.
  • Lower order batsmen, whose averages are lower.
  • Batsmen who have played more in unfavourable conditions.
  • Batsmen who have played in an era where the bowlers dominated, like the 1980s or late 2010s
  • Batsmen who have played more against top opposition than weaker teams.

CONSISTENT


Criteria: Points For Relative Average

Against All Teams

RANK BATSMAN INNS IN1 AVE IN4 AVE AVE C AVE R AVE RAT
TS GS Sobers 19 70.00 52.88 59.46 32.95 63.16 300.00
1 L Klusener 13 84.83 29.50 71.00 30.23 82.20 300.00
2 GS Sobers 19 70.00 52.88 59.46 32.95 63.16 300.00
3 Shakib Al Hasan 15 72.00 48.29 60.14 34.24 61.48 292.04
4 KR Stackpole 18 52.67 59.55 58.07 33.23 61.17 290.55
5 RR Pant 13 35.86 71.80 50.83 29.44 60.44 287.10
6 SM Gavaskar 34 33.82 69.12 55.25 33.66 57.44 272.87
7 Javed Miandad 22 72.50 41.33 56.00 35.29 55.54 263.83
8 KP Pietersen 32 76.45 43.65 56.54 36.06 54.87 260.66
9 IVA Richards 28 52.89 48.50 51.54 33.79 53.39 253.60
10 RT Ponting 36 55.18 53.89 54.37 35.64 53.39 253.59
11 AI Kallicharran 20 49.00 50.73 50.00 33.04 52.96 251.59
12 ML Hayden 27 71.00 42.60 52.48 34.84 52.73 250.46
13 GS Chappell 25 48.38 55.83 50.74 33.96 52.29 248.39
14 SP Fleming 25 68.50 25.50 52.86 35.76 51.74 245.78
15 DL Haynes 38 40.74 63.67 48.11 32.98 51.05 242.48
16 GR Viswanath 26 68.38 40.53 50.22 34.77 50.55 240.14
17 S Chanderpaul 42 55.27 45.79 49.97 34.92 50.09 237.92
18 G Boycott 34 25.75 64.07 47.04 33.66 48.91 232.33
19 BB McCullum 27 51.73 35.90 45.40 33.72 47.13 223.87
20 AB de Villiers 30 79.25 33.85 46.82 34.88 46.99 223.20
21 Younis Khan 34 26.36 68.73 48.28 36.11 46.79 222.25
22 JH Kallis 42 41.38 45.50 43.16 35.70 42.31 200.98
23 SPD Smith 27 61.11 28.13 40.00 33.15 42.23 200.59
24 DPMD Jayawardena 35 41.35 42.40 41.84 37.05 39.52 187.74
25 SR Tendulkar 47 37.77 36.62 37.00 35.86 36.12 171.56
Ave HS

In this criteria, we have taken the top 5 scores of the batsman in the specific condition. Average High Score (Ave HS) is simply the total runs in the 5 innings divided by 5.

BIG INNINGS POTENTIAL


Criteria: Points For Runs Scored In The Top 5 Inns

RANK BATSMAN 1 2 3 4 5 AVE HS RAT
TS SM Gavaskar 221 205 113 102 96 147.40 300.00
1 SM Gavaskar 221 205 113 102 96 147.40 300.00
2 IVA Richards 208 146 130 101 98 136.60 278.02
3 RT Ponting 157* 156 143* 123 100* 135.80 276.39
4 AB de Villiers 278* 106* 103 92 85 132.80 270.28
5 KP Pietersen 202* 152 115 101 92 132.40 269.47
6 SP Fleming 262 129 97 67 67 124.40 253.19
7 DPMD Jayawardena 213* 123 105 104 72 123.40 251.15
8 ML Hayden 197 136 96 91 90 122.00 248.30
9 BB McCullum 224 145 97 80 61 121.40 247.08
10 Younis Khan 131* 130 126 111 107* 121.00 246.27
11 Shakib Al Hasan 217 144 96 84 59 120.00 244.23
12 GR Viswanath 222 114 112 75* 73 119.20 242.61
13 JH Kallis 161 120 108 105 101 119.00 242.20
14 SR Tendulkar 155 136 119* 103* 76 117.80 239.76
15 S Chanderpaul 136* 122* 116* 104 104 116.40 236.91
16 GS Chappell 176 115 109* 74 73* 109.40 222.66
17 SPD Smith 143 115 100 97 85 108.00 219.81
18 DL Haynes 131 125 103* 96 84 107.80 219.40
18 Javed Miandad 153* 129* 103* 79 75 107.80 219.40
20 AI Kallicharran 126 124 92 91 75 101.60 206.78
21 GS Sobers 178* 109* 74* 69 64 98.80 201.09
21 G Boycott 128* 106 100* 80* 80* 98.80 201.09
23 RR Pant 146 114 97 89* 37 96.60 196.61
24 L Klusener 174 118* 95* 61* 34* 96.40 196.20
25 KR Stackpole 136 114 79 76* 67 94.40 192.13
C SR And R SR

The Comparative Strike Rate (C SR) and Relative Strike Rate (R SR) for batsmen is calculated using the same method as in C Ave and R Ave with average replaced with SR. Points to note are:-

  • Batsmen from the earlier era benefit from R SR.
  • This is because SR was generally low earlier and it has incresed with time.
  • Rest of the factors are the same as in R Ave.
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.

ATTACKING


Criteria: Points For R SR

RANK BATSMAN R4BF BF SR C SR R SR RAT
TS AC Gilchrist 582 696 83.62 51.15 81.75 150.00
1 IVA Richards 1287 1865 69.01 45.15 76.42 140.22
2 RR Pant 610 836 72.97 51.06 71.45 131.10
3 BB McCullum 1135 1596 71.12 51.69 68.79 126.22
4 ML Hayden 1207 1857 65.00 50.83 63.94 117.33
5 GS Chappell 964 1757 54.87 43.19 63.51 116.54
6 RT Ponting 1631 2580 63.22 50.07 63.13 115.84
7 Shakib Al Hasan 842 1348 62.46 50.92 61.34 112.54
8 L Klusener 568 997 56.97 47.07 60.52 111.04
9 KP Pietersen 1583 2571 61.57 51.12 60.22 110.51
10 KR Stackpole 622 1391 44.72 40.07 55.80 102.39
11 SR Tendulkar 1443 2705 53.35 49.45 53.94 98.97
12 GR Viswanath 894 1993 44.86 42.76 52.46 96.25
13 SM Gavaskar 1187 2639 44.98 43.05 52.24 95.86
14 DL Haynes 1347 2959 45.52 44.01 51.72 94.90
15 Younis Khan 1400 2719 51.49 50.76 50.71 93.06
16 AI Kallicharran 313 749 41.79 42.51 49.16 90.20
17 DPMD Jayawardena 1339 2718 49.26 50.28 48.99 89.90
18 S Chanderpaul 1699 3530 48.13 49.86 48.27 88.57
19 Javed Miandad 890 2060 43.20 45.53 47.45 87.06
20 SPD Smith 1000 2071 48.29 51.46 46.92 86.09
21 SP Fleming 1163 2561 45.41 48.87 46.47 85.26
22 JH Kallis 1597 3589 44.50 49.78 44.70 82.01
23 GS Sobers 112 317 35.33 40.08 44.07 80.87
24 AB de Villiers 1311 2984 43.93 51.36 42.77 78.49
25 G Boycott 1063 3085 34.46 41.56 41.45 76.06
DR Rating

The DIFF RUNS (DR) Rating is the addition of the points of all the above criteria. The rating is out of 1,000.

RATING


RANK BATSMAN PRO CONS BIP ATT DR RAT
1 SM Gavaskar 240.00 272.87 300.00 95.86 908.73
2 RT Ponting 239.99 253.59 276.39 115.84 885.82
3 IVA Richards 207.89 253.60 278.02 140.22 879.73
4 KP Pietersen 232.93 260.66 269.47 110.51 873.56
5 S Chanderpaul 250.00 237.92 236.91 88.57 813.39
6 ML Hayden 177.60 250.46 248.30 117.33 793.69
7 Shakib Al Hasan 123.90 292.04 244.23 112.54 772.72
8 Younis Khan 206.00 222.25 246.27 93.06 767.58
9 DL Haynes 208.97 242.48 219.40 94.90 765.75
10 AB de Villiers 192.91 223.20 270.28 78.49 764.88
11 BB McCullum 167.01 223.87 247.08 126.22 764.19
12 JH Kallis 234.99 200.98 242.20 82.01 760.18
13 GR Viswanath 179.19 240.14 242.61 96.25 758.18
14 SP Fleming 171.13 245.78 253.19 85.26 755.36
15 GS Chappell 149.55 248.39 222.66 116.54 737.15
16 RR Pant 121.54 287.10 196.61 131.10 736.34
17 DPMD Jayawardena 197.03 187.74 251.15 89.90 725.82
18 SR Tendulkar 212.33 171.56 239.76 98.97 722.61
19 Javed Miandad 147.69 263.83 219.40 87.06 717.99
20 KR Stackpole 126.13 290.55 192.13 102.39 711.20
21 G Boycott 197.03 232.33 201.09 76.06 706.50
22 SPD Smith 199.24 200.59 219.81 86.09 705.73
23 GS Sobers 119.92 300.00 201.09 80.87 701.88
24 AI Kallicharran 147.38 251.59 206.78 90.20 695.95
25 L Klusener 83.58 300.00 196.20 111.04 690.82

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 AUS ENG PAK NZ

TOP TEAMS OUTSIDE ASIA


DECADE OF MAT 1 2 3 4 5 6
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 ENG SA IND


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