Top 25 Test Batsmen In Difficult Runs

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 in 4th Inns and inns with High Deficit in Test cricket.

CONTENTS

4.1. Against All Teams

5. ATTACKING

5.1. Against All Teams

6. BIG INNINGS POTENTIAL

6.1. Against All Teams

7. DIFFICULT RUNS RATING

8. BRIEF EXPLANATION

8.1. Dynamic Nature

8.2. Trend Setter (TS)

8.3. Abbreviations

DR RATING

Points to note about DIFFICULT RUNS Rating:-

It takes into account performances in difficult situations. It includes
Runs scored in fourth innings.
Runs scored after being asked to follow on.
Runs scored after conceding a lead of 200+ runs.

THE CRITERIA

The DR 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	15
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	G Boycott	ENG	1964	1982	1973	45	1706	280.00
1	G Boycott	ENG	1964	1982	1973	45	1706	280.00
2	GS Sobers	WI	1954	1974	1964	36	1433	235.19
3	PBH May	ENG	1951	1961	1956	24	1108	181.85
4	ER Dexter	ENG	1958	1968	1963	21	892	146.40

RANK	ERA 2	NAT	FP	LP	MP	INNS	RUNS	RAT
TS	MA Atherton	ENG	1989	2001	1995	57	2068	290.00
1	MA Atherton	ENG	1989	2001	1995	57	2068	290.00
2	SM Gavaskar	IND	1971	1987	1979	50	2064	289.44
3	AR Border	AUS	1978	1994	1986	58	1746	244.85
4	GA Gooch	ENG	1975	1995	1985	44	1558	218.48
5	CG Greenidge	WI	1974	1991	1982.5	43	1552	217.64
6	MD Crowe	NZ	1982	1995	1988.5	35	1506	211.19

RANK	ERA 3	NAT	FP	LP	MP	INNS	RUNS	RAT
TS	AN Cook	ENG	2006	2018	2012	72	2664	300.00
1	AN Cook	ENG	2006	2018	2012	72	2664	300.00
2	SR Tendulkar	IND	1989	2013	2001	79	2487	280.07
3	BC Lara	WI	1990	2006	1998	64	2447	275.56
4	S Chanderpaul	WI	1994	2015	2004.5	73	2390	269.14
5	RS Dravid	IND	1996	2012	2004	75	2264	254.95
6	AJ Stewart	ENG	1990	2003	1996.5	61	2201	247.86
7	VVS Laxman	IND	1996	2012	2004	54	2080	234.23
8	KC Sangakkara	SL	2000	2015	2007.5	51	2049	230.74
9	Younis Khan	PAK	2000	2017	2008.5	55	1812	204.05
10	GC Smith	SA	2002	2014	2008	46	1794	202.03
11	A Flower	ZIM	1992	2002	1997	29	1239	139.53

RANK	ERA 4	NAT	FP	LP	MP	INNS	RUNS	RAT
TS	JE Root	ENG	2012	2026	2019	66	2342	290.00
1	JE Root	ENG	2012	2026	2019	66	2342	290.00
2	FDM Karunaratne	SL	2012	2025	2018.5	50	1720	212.98
3	KS Williamson	NZ	2010	2025	2017.5	41	1529	189.33
4	BKG Mendis	SL	2015	2025	2020	33	1471	182.15

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	1000

Against All Teams

RANK	BATSMAN	INNS	NO	RUNS	100s	AVE	R AVE	RAT
TS	MD Crowe	35	11	1506	6	62.75	65.87	300.00
1	MD Crowe	35	11	1506	6	62.75	65.87	300.00
2	ER Dexter	21	6	892	2	59.47	62.59	285.08
3	A Flower	29	7	1239	3	56.32	61.64	280.72
4	PBH May	24	4	1108	2	55.40	59.32	270.15
5	G Boycott	45	15	1706	3	56.87	58.39	265.95
6	GS Sobers	36	9	1433	4	53.07	57.70	262.82
7	SM Gavaskar	50	10	2064	5	51.60	56.91	259.21
8	BKG Mendis	33	4	1471	4	50.72	55.93	254.73
9	VVS Laxman	54	14	2080	4	52.00	54.83	249.70
10	KS Williamson	41	10	1529	6	49.32	51.55	234.80
11	GC Smith	46	10	1794	5	49.83	50.16	228.43
12	JE Root	66	12	2342	3	43.37	48.14	219.23
13	KC Sangakkara	51	8	2049	5	47.65	48.08	218.98
14	CG Greenidge	43	12	1552	3	50.06	48.03	218.75
15	AJ Stewart	61	10	2201	2	43.16	48.01	218.65
16	BC Lara	64	5	2447	7	41.47	44.85	204.26
17	MA Atherton	57	6	2068	2	40.55	44.62	203.21
18	AR Border	58	14	1746	5	39.68	44.27	201.61
19	S Chanderpaul	73	15	2390	3	41.21	43.69	199.01
20	AN Cook	72	9	2664	6	42.29	43.39	197.63
21	FDM Karunaratne	50	6	1720	4	39.09	42.64	194.22
22	GA Gooch	44	4	1558	4	38.95	42.33	192.78
23	SR Tendulkar	79	18	2487	6	40.77	42.18	192.11
24	RS Dravid	75	18	2264	3	39.72	41.41	188.60
25	Younis Khan	55	11	1812	5	41.18	40.45	184.24

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	1000
Min Average	25

Against All Teams

RANK	BATSMAN	R4BF	BF	SR	R SR	RAT
TS	V Sehwag	1301	1661	78.33	77.03	100.00
1	GS Sobers	293	568	51.58	65.43	84.95
2	CG Greenidge	1145	2139	53.53	60.51	78.55
3	GC Smith	1794	2936	61.10	59.95	77.84
4	GA Gooch	1558	3139	49.63	56.57	73.44
5	BC Lara	2447	4749	51.53	55.02	71.43
6	AJ Stewart	2201	4490	49.02	54.44	70.68
7	BKG Mendis	1471	2637	55.78	54.00	70.10
8	VVS Laxman	2080	3923	53.02	53.71	69.73
9	SR Tendulkar	2487	4805	51.76	52.83	68.59
10	PBH May	249	646	38.54	52.59	68.27
11	SM Gavaskar	1445	3347	43.17	51.57	66.95
12	Younis Khan	1812	3578	50.64	50.39	65.42
13	KS Williamson	1529	3006	50.86	49.67	64.48
14	JE Root	2342	4665	50.20	49.24	63.93
15	A Flower	1239	2813	44.05	49.17	63.83
16	FDM Karunaratne	1720	3447	49.90	48.99	63.60
17	KC Sangakkara	2049	4288	47.78	48.07	62.41
18	MD Crowe	1506	3532	42.64	47.73	61.96
19	ER Dexter	137	377	36.34	47.12	61.17
20	S Chanderpaul	2390	5186	46.09	47.08	61.13
21	AN Cook	2664	5946	44.80	43.54	56.53
22	G Boycott	1455	4118	35.33	43.52	56.50
23	AR Border	1738	4706	36.93	42.27	54.88
24	MA Atherton	2068	5549	37.27	41.61	54.02
25	RS Dravid	2264	5750	39.37	40.13	52.09

BIG INNINGS POTENTIAL

Ave HS

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

Criteria: Points For Runs Scored In The Top 5 Inns

Against All Teams

RANK	BATSMAN	1	2	3	4	5	AVE HS	RAT
TS	KC Sangakkara	211	192	138	137	130*	161.60	300.00
1	KC Sangakkara	211	192	138	137	130*	161.60	300.00
2	AN Cook	235*	176	118	116	116	152.20	282.55
3	VVS Laxman	281	167	124*	103*	74	149.80	278.09
4	MD Crowe	299	115	108*	107	104	146.60	272.15
5	A Flower	232*	199*	129	83	67	142.00	263.61
6	SM Gavaskar	221	127*	117*	113	102	136.00	252.48
7	BC Lara	153*	145	130	122	122	134.40	249.50
8	Younis Khan	171*	131*	130	126	107*	133.00	246.91
9	CG Greenidge	214*	120*	104	97	96	126.20	234.28
10	PBH May	285*	117	97	69	62	126.00	233.91
11	AR Border	152*	146*	123*	105	100*	125.20	232.43
12	FDM Karunaratne	152	141	122	107	97	123.80	229.83
13	GA Gooch	146	133	117	116	91*	120.60	223.89
14	KS Williamson	133*	132	121*	108*	104*	119.60	222.03
15	MA Atherton	185*	118	99	98*	95	119.00	220.92
15	GC Smith	154*	125*	108	107	101*	119.00	220.92
17	GS Sobers	142	113*	113	109*	93	114.00	211.63
18	SR Tendulkar	136	119*	111*	103*	100*	113.80	211.26
19	ER Dexter	180	126*	99	80*	76	112.20	208.29
20	RS Dravid	180	115	103*	87	75	112.00	207.92
21	BKG Mendis	141*	116*	110	102	86	111.00	206.06
22	JE Root	142*	115*	105	95	89	109.20	202.72
23	AJ Stewart	164	119	89	86	83*	108.20	200.87
24	G Boycott	128*	106	100*	99*	93	105.20	195.30
25	S Chanderpaul	116*	109	104	97*	86*	102.40	190.10

DIFFICULT RUNS RATING

The DIFFICULT RUNS (DR) 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	DR RAT
1	SM Gavaskar	289.44	259.21	66.95	252.48	868.07
2	MD Crowe	211.19	300.00	61.96	272.15	845.31
3	AN Cook	300.00	197.63	56.53	282.55	836.70
4	VVS Laxman	234.23	249.70	69.73	278.09	831.76
5	KC Sangakkara	230.74	218.98	62.41	300.00	812.13
6	BC Lara	275.56	204.26	71.43	249.50	800.75
7	G Boycott	280.00	265.95	56.50	195.30	797.74
8	GS Sobers	235.19	262.82	84.95	211.63	794.59
9	JE Root	290.00	219.23	63.93	202.72	775.89
10	MA Atherton	290.00	203.21	54.02	220.92	768.15
11	PBH May	181.85	270.15	68.27	233.91	754.19
12	SR Tendulkar	280.07	192.11	68.59	211.26	752.03
13	CG Greenidge	217.64	218.75	78.55	234.28	749.22
14	A Flower	139.53	280.72	63.83	263.61	747.70
15	AJ Stewart	247.86	218.65	70.68	200.87	738.05
16	AR Border	244.85	201.61	54.88	232.43	733.76
17	GC Smith	202.03	228.43	77.84	220.92	729.21
18	S Chanderpaul	269.14	199.01	61.13	190.10	719.38
19	BKG Mendis	182.15	254.73	70.10	206.06	713.04
20	KS Williamson	189.33	234.80	64.48	222.03	710.65
21	GA Gooch	218.48	192.78	73.44	223.89	708.59
22	RS Dravid	254.95	188.60	52.09	207.92	703.57
23	ER Dexter	146.40	285.08	61.17	208.29	700.94
24	FDM Karunaratne	212.98	194.22	63.60	229.83	700.62
25	Younis Khan	204.05	184.24	65.42	246.91	700.62

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)

TS is the player who does the best in a criteria.
The rating of all other players are calculated taking the TS as the benchmark. 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.
Know All About the Trend Setter