All Test Ratings on the website are from 01/01/1950 onwards (Know Why). 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. Brief explanation of the ratings is given before each section (Detailed Explanation). Difficult Runs are runs scored in the first and fourth innings after losing the toss. Here are the Top 25 batsmen in 1st and 4th inns after losing the toss in Test cricket.

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

CONTENTS

3. PROLIFIC

4. CONSISTENT

4.1. Against All Teams

5. BIG INNINGS POTENTIAL

6. ATTACKING

7. DIFF RUNS RATING

8. TOP TEAMS

8.1. Top Teams In Asia

8.2. Top Teams Outside Asia

THE CRITERIA

The DIFF RUNS Rating is divided into four main sections:-

CRITERIA	STAT	POINTS
Prolific	Runs Scored	300.00
Consistent	Average	300.00
Big Innings Potential	Top Scores	250.00
Attacking	Strike Rate	150.00

The 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. Know All About TS. Here is a simple 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)

Difficult Runs Rating considers 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	10
Min Runs (TS AVE SR)	750
Min Average (TS SR)	30

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 1991
Era 2	MP between 1990 And 2016
Era 3	MP greater than 2015

Criteria: Points For Runs Scored

RANK	ERA 1	NAT	I1	I1 RNS	I4	I4 RNS	INNS	RUNS	RAT
TS	SM Gavaskar	IND	11	372	23	1175	34	1547	190.00
1	SM Gavaskar	IND	11	372	23	1175	34	1547	190.00
2	DL Haynes	WI	19	774	19	573	38	1347	165.44
3	IVA Richards	WI	18	952	10	388	28	1340	164.58
4	G Boycott	ENG	12	309	22	961	34	1270	155.98
5	GR Viswanath	IND	8	547	18	608	26	1155	141.86
6	GS Chappell	AUS	13	629	12	335	25	964	118.40
7	Javed Miandad	PAK	10	580	12	372	22	952	116.92
8	KR Stackpole	AUS	3	158	15	655	18	813	99.85

RANK	ERA 2	NAT	I1	I1 RNS	I4	I4 RNS	INNS	RUNS	RAT
TS	S Chanderpaul	WI	18	829	24	870	42	1699	200.00
1	S Chanderpaul	WI	18	829	24	870	42	1699	200.00
2	RT Ponting	AUS	12	607	24	1024	36	1631	192.00
3	JH Kallis	SA	21	869	21	728	42	1597	187.99
4	KP Pietersen	ENG	12	841	20	742	32	1583	186.34
5	SR Tendulkar	IND	13	491	34	952	47	1443	169.86
6	Younis Khan	PAK	14	369	20	1031	34	1400	164.80
7	DPMD Jayawardena	SL	18	703	17	636	35	1339	157.62
8	AB de Villiers	SA	9	634	21	677	30	1311	154.33
9	ML Hayden	AUS	8	568	19	639	27	1207	142.08
10	SP Fleming	NZ	15	959	10	204	25	1163	136.90
11	BB McCullum	NZ	15	776	12	359	27	1135	133.61
12	Shakib Al Hasan	BAN	7	504	8	338	15	842	99.12
13	L Klusener	SA	9	509	4	59	13	568	66.86

RANK	ERA 3	NAT	I1	I1 RNS	I4	I4 RNS	INNS	RUNS	RAT
TS	JE Root	ENG	14	498	23	823	37	1321	180.00
1	JE Root	ENG	14	498	23	823	37	1321	180.00
2	SPD Smith	AUS	14	844	18	456	32	1300	177.14
3	TM Head	AUS	7	542	6	221	13	763	103.97
4	RR Pant	IND	7	251	6	359	13	610	83.12

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	IN1 AVE	IN4 AVE	AVE	R AVE	RAT
TS	TM Head	13	77.43	44.20	63.58	67.48	300.00
1	L Klusener	13	84.83	29.50	71.00	85.96	300.00
2	TM Head	13	77.43	44.20	63.58	67.48	300.00
3	Shakib Al Hasan	15	72.00	48.29	60.14	60.80	270.30
4	KR Stackpole	18	52.67	59.55	58.07	60.65	269.64
5	RR Pant	13	35.86	71.80	50.83	58.67	260.83
6	Javed Miandad	22	72.50	41.33	56.00	57.39	255.14
7	SM Gavaskar	34	33.82	69.12	55.25	57.28	254.65
8	KP Pietersen	32	76.45	43.65	56.54	54.35	241.63
9	IVA Richards	28	52.89	48.50	51.54	54.10	240.52
10	GS Chappell	25	48.38	55.83	50.74	53.35	237.21
11	SP Fleming	25	68.50	25.50	52.86	52.76	234.58
12	RT Ponting	36	55.18	53.89	54.37	52.59	233.82
13	ML Hayden	27	71.00	42.60	52.48	52.23	232.19
14	GR Viswanath	26	68.38	40.53	50.22	51.72	229.96
15	DL Haynes	38	40.74	63.67	48.11	51.52	229.05
16	S Chanderpaul	42	55.27	45.79	49.97	50.58	224.87
17	G Boycott	34	25.75	64.07	47.04	49.70	220.96
18	JE Root	37	38.31	51.44	45.55	47.79	212.47
19	AB de Villiers	30	79.25	33.85	46.82	47.45	210.95
20	BB McCullum	27	51.73	35.90	45.40	47.21	209.89
21	Younis Khan	34	26.36	68.73	48.28	46.09	204.92
22	SPD Smith	32	64.92	26.82	43.33	44.29	196.89
23	JH Kallis	42	41.38	45.50	43.16	43.34	192.69
24	DPMD Jayawardena	35	41.35	42.40	41.84	40.36	179.42
25	SR Tendulkar	47	37.77	36.62	37.00	36.48	162.20

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

RANK	BATSMAN	1	2	3	4	5	AVE HS	RAT
TS	SM Gavaskar	221	205	113	102	96	147.40	250.00
1	SM Gavaskar	221	205	113	102	96	147.40	250.00
2	IVA Richards	208	146	130	101	98	136.60	231.68
3	RT Ponting	157*	156	143*	123	100*	135.80	230.33
4	AB de Villiers	278*	106*	103	92	85	132.80	225.24
5	KP Pietersen	202*	152	115	101	92	132.40	224.56
6	SP Fleming	262	129	97	67	67	124.40	210.99
7	DPMD Jayawardena	213*	123	105	104	72	123.40	209.29
8	ML Hayden	197	136	96	91	90	122.00	206.92
9	BB McCullum	224	145	97	80	61	121.40	205.90
10	Younis Khan	131*	130	126	111	107*	121.00	205.22
11	Shakib Al Hasan	217	144	96	84	59	120.00	203.53
12	GR Viswanath	222	114	112	75*	73	119.20	202.17
13	JH Kallis	161	120	108	105	101	119.00	201.83
14	SR Tendulkar	155	136	119*	103*	76	117.80	199.80
14	SPD Smith	143	121	115	110	100	117.80	199.80
16	S Chanderpaul	136*	122*	116*	104	104	116.40	197.42
17	JE Root	153*	115*	98	95	87	109.60	185.89
18	GS Chappell	176	115	109*	74	73*	109.40	185.55
19	DL Haynes	131	125	103*	96	84	107.80	182.84
19	Javed Miandad	153*	129*	103*	79	75	107.80	182.84
21	TM Head	163	114	101	77	72	105.40	178.77
22	G Boycott	128*	106	100*	80*	80*	98.80	167.57
23	RR Pant	146	114	97	89*	37	96.60	163.84
24	L Klusener	174	118*	95*	61*	34*	96.40	163.50
25	KR Stackpole	136	114	79	76*	67	94.40	160.11

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	IVA Richards	1287	1865	69.01	75.92	150.00
1	IVA Richards	1287	1865	69.01	75.92	150.00
2	RR Pant	610	836	72.97	70.19	138.67
3	BB McCullum	1135	1596	71.12	68.44	135.22
4	GS Chappell	964	1757	54.87	63.74	125.94
5	ML Hayden	1207	1856	65.03	63.13	124.73
6	RT Ponting	1631	2580	63.22	61.71	121.92
7	L Klusener	568	997	56.97	60.69	119.90
8	Shakib Al Hasan	842	1348	62.46	60.50	119.53
9	TM Head	763	1198	63.69	60.33	119.19
10	KP Pietersen	1583	2571	61.57	59.40	117.37
11	KR Stackpole	622	1391	44.72	55.61	109.87
12	SR Tendulkar	1443	2705	53.35	53.68	106.07
13	GR Viswanath	894	1993	44.86	52.77	104.26
14	SM Gavaskar	1187	2639	44.98	52.31	103.35
15	DL Haynes	1347	2959	45.52	51.14	101.04
16	Younis Khan	1400	2719	51.49	50.06	98.91
17	S Chanderpaul	1699	3530	48.13	48.68	96.18
18	DPMD Jayawardena	1339	2718	49.26	48.54	95.91
19	JE Root	1321	2652	49.81	48.19	95.20
20	Javed Miandad	890	2060	43.20	48.00	94.85
21	SPD Smith	1300	2619	49.64	47.34	93.52
22	SP Fleming	1163	2561	45.41	46.20	91.29
23	JH Kallis	1597	3588	44.51	44.75	88.42
24	AB de Villiers	1311	2984	43.93	42.26	83.50
25	G Boycott	1063	3085	34.46	41.68	82.36

DIFF RUNS RATING

The DIFF 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	BIP	ATT	DR RAT
1	SM Gavaskar	190.00	254.65	250.00	103.35	798.00
2	IVA Richards	164.58	240.52	231.68	150.00	786.78
3	RT Ponting	192.00	233.82	230.33	121.92	778.07
4	KP Pietersen	186.34	241.63	224.56	117.37	769.90
5	S Chanderpaul	200.00	224.87	197.42	96.18	718.47
6	ML Hayden	142.08	232.19	206.92	124.73	705.93
7	TM Head	103.97	300.00	178.77	119.19	701.92
8	Shakib Al Hasan	99.12	270.30	203.53	119.53	692.48
9	BB McCullum	133.61	209.89	205.90	135.22	684.61
10	DL Haynes	165.44	229.05	182.84	101.04	678.37
11	GR Viswanath	141.86	229.96	202.17	104.26	678.25
12	AB de Villiers	154.33	210.95	225.24	83.50	674.01
13	Younis Khan	164.80	204.92	205.22	98.91	673.86
14	SP Fleming	136.90	234.58	210.99	91.29	673.76
15	JE Root	180.00	212.47	185.89	95.20	673.56
16	JH Kallis	187.99	192.69	201.83	88.42	670.93
17	SPD Smith	177.14	196.89	199.80	93.52	667.35
18	GS Chappell	118.40	237.21	185.55	125.94	667.10
19	L Klusener	66.86	300.00	163.50	119.90	650.26
20	Javed Miandad	116.92	255.14	182.84	94.85	649.74
21	RR Pant	83.12	260.83	163.84	138.67	646.46
22	DPMD Jayawardena	157.62	179.42	209.29	95.91	642.24
23	KR Stackpole	99.85	269.64	160.11	109.87	639.47
24	SR Tendulkar	169.86	162.20	199.80	106.07	637.93
25	G Boycott	155.98	220.96	167.57	82.36	626.87

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

Top 25 Test Batsmen In Difficult Runs