Best Indian Batsmen In Tests Featured

Top 10 Indian Batsmen In Tests Since 1950

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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). Here are the Top 10 Indian batsmen in Test Cricket since 1950.

*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. Asians In Asia
4.2.2. Unfamiliar Conditions Rating
4.2.2.1. 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. OVERALL RATING
7. TOP TEAMS
7.1. Top Teams In Asia
7.2. Top Teams Outside Asia
Nations Filter

This rating filters the OVERALL Rating to show players only from India.

  • The Rating of the players from India remains the same as in the original OVERALL Rating.
  • Thus the Trend Setter can be from any nation and is not necessarily from India.

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

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 FP LP MP INNS RUNS RAT
TS AR Border AUS 1978 1994 1986 265 11174 170.00
1 SM Gavaskar IND 1971 1987 1979 214 10122 153.99
2 GR Viswanath IND 1969 1983 1976 155 6080 92.50
RANK ERA 2 NAT FP LP MP INNS RUNS RAT
TS SR Tendulkar IND 1989 2013 2001 329 15921 200.00
1 SR Tendulkar IND 1989 2013 2001 329 15921 200.00
2 RS Dravid IND 1996 2012 2004 286 13288 166.92
3 VVS Laxman IND 1996 2012 2004 225 8781 110.31
4 V Sehwag IND 2001 2013 2007 180 8586 107.86
5 M Azharuddin IND 1984 2000 1992 147 6215 78.07
RANK ERA 3 NAT FP LP MP INNS RUNS RAT
TS JE Root ENG 2012 2024 2018 278 12972 180.00
1 V Kohli IND 2011 2025 2018 210 9230 128.08
2 CA Pujara IND 2010 2023 2016.5 176 7195 99.84
3 RR Pant IND 2018 2025 2021.5 75 2948 40.91

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 GS Sobers 160 21 8032 57.78 60.14 250.00
1 SM Gavaskar 214 16 10122 51.12 52.51 218.29
2 SR Tendulkar 329 33 15921 53.79 51.41 213.69
3 RS Dravid 286 32 13288 52.31 50.33 209.20
4 V Sehwag 180 6 8586 49.34 48.29 200.76
5 V Kohli 210 13 9230 46.85 48.04 199.71
6 RR Pant 75 5 2948 42.11 47.88 199.03
7 M Azharuddin 147 9 6215 45.04 46.40 192.87
8 CA Pujara 176 11 7195 43.61 45.81 190.42
9 VVS Laxman 225 34 8781 45.97 45.24 188.06
10 GR Viswanath 155 10 6080 41.93 42.28 175.77

Against Top Teams

RANK BATSMAN INNS NO RUNS AVE R AVE RAT
TS GS Sobers 132 17 6450 56.09 58.37 250.00
1 SM Gavaskar 180 13 8367 50.10 51.46 220.41
2 V Sehwag 142 4 7029 50.93 49.85 213.49
3 V Kohli 167 10 7542 48.04 49.26 210.96
4 SR Tendulkar 257 20 11783 49.72 47.52 203.50
5 M Azharuddin 127 9 5383 45.62 47.00 201.27
6 RS Dravid 218 21 9467 48.06 46.23 197.99
7 RR Pant 63 4 2397 40.63 46.19 197.81
8 CA Pujara 141 7 5444 40.63 42.68 182.78
9 VVS Laxman 177 23 6487 42.12 41.45 177.52
10 GR Viswanath 133 7 5030 39.92 40.25 172.40

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 BC Lara 400* 375 277 226 221 216 213 275.43 150.00
1 V Sehwag 319 309 293 254 201* 201 195 253.14 137.86
2 V Kohli 254* 243 235 213 211 204 200 222.86 121.37
3 RS Dravid 270 233 222 217 200* 191 190 217.57 118.49
4 SR Tendulkar 248* 241* 217 214 203 201* 194* 216.86 118.10
5 SM Gavaskar 236* 221 220 205 182* 176 172 201.71 109.85
6 VVS Laxman 281 200* 178 176* 167 154* 148 186.29 101.45
7 CA Pujara 206* 204 202 193 159 153 153 181.43 98.81
8 M Azharuddin 199 192 182 179 163* 163* 152 175.71 95.70
9 GR Viswanath 222 179 161* 145 139 137 131 159.14 86.67
10 RR Pant 159* 146 114 109 101 100* 99 118.29 64.42

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 N Kapil Dev 4481 5580 80.30 88.85 150.00
1 V Sehwag 8586 10441 82.23 79.51 134.24
2 RR Pant 2948 4004 73.63 68.06 114.91
3 M Azharuddin 5720 9897 57.80 63.07 106.49
4 SR Tendulkar 15910 29431 54.06 54.45 91.92
5 V Kohli 9230 16608 55.58 53.03 89.53
6 SM Gavaskar 6809 15327 44.42 51.40 86.79
7 GR Viswanath 3866 8858 43.64 50.90 85.94
8 VVS Laxman 8781 17786 49.37 49.44 83.47
9 CA Pujara 7195 16217 44.37 43.24 73.01
10 RS Dravid 13288 31263 42.50 43.02 72.63

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 OVERALL Rating, i.e. 500.00 pts.

RANK BATSMAN PRO CON BIP ATT RAT PRI PTS
1 SR Tendulkar 200.00 417.20 118.10 91.92 827.22 413.61
2 V Sehwag 107.86 414.25 137.86 134.24 794.21 397.11
3 SM Gavaskar 153.99 438.71 109.85 86.79 789.34 394.67
4 RS Dravid 166.92 407.19 118.49 72.63 765.23 382.62
5 V Kohli 128.08 410.67 121.37 89.53 749.64 374.82
6 M Azharuddin 78.07 394.14 95.70 106.49 674.39 337.20
7 VVS Laxman 110.31 365.58 101.45 83.47 660.81 330.41
8 CA Pujara 99.84 373.21 98.81 73.01 644.86 322.43
9 RR Pant 40.91 396.84 64.42 114.91 617.07 308.53
10 GR Viswanath 92.50 348.17 86.67 85.94 613.28 306.64

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. Click on the Rating Titles to see how they were calculated.

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 V Sehwag 89 4656 54.14 83.43 771.82 192.95
2 V Kohli 87 4336 55.59 59.31 743.45 185.86
3 SR Tendulkar 153 7216 52.67 53.22 718.75 179.69
4 SM Gavaskar 108 5067 50.17 46.77 707.26 176.81
5 M Azharuddin 66 3412 55.93 56.48 684.80 171.20
6 RS Dravid 120 5598 51.36 42.38 659.09 164.77
7 CA Pujara 80 3839 52.59 49.38 651.46 162.87
8 RR Pant 21 1061 55.84 89.84 644.58 161.15
9 VVS Laxman 91 3767 51.60 48.85 619.30 154.83
10 GR Viswanath 81 3502 47.32 44.82 616.70 154.18

Away From Home

Min Innings: 20

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 SR Tendulkar 176 8705 54.75 54.78 815.50 815.50
2 RS Dravid 166 7690 53.03 42.60 750.91 750.91
3 SM Gavaskar 106 5055 52.11 41.73 750.20 750.20
4 V Sehwag 91 3930 44.66 80.86 692.67 692.67
5 V Kohli 123 4894 41.13 52.64 648.73 648.73
6 VVS Laxman 134 5014 42.49 49.77 601.08 601.08
7 M Azharuddin 81 2803 36.40 59.35 560.22 560.22
8 RR Pant 54 1887 37.00 66.84 551.24 551.24
9 CA Pujara 96 3356 36.48 39.75 548.04 548.04
10 GR Viswanath 74 2578 36.31 42.19 501.84 501.84

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

Asians In Asia

Min Innings: 20

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 V Sehwag 114 6256 57.39 84.95 824.84 206.21
2 SR Tendulkar 194 9674 56.24 54.08 757.49 189.37
3 V Kohli 102 4789 52.63 58.62 724.18 181.04
4 SM Gavaskar 133 6254 50.85 46.52 717.75 179.44
5 CA Pujara 90 4515 55.74 49.99 686.65 171.66
6 RS Dravid 160 7370 51.18 43.72 670.42 167.61
7 M Azharuddin 87 4291 52.98 56.68 669.65 167.41
8 RR Pant 24 1209 54.95 90.02 634.63 158.66
9 VVS Laxman 117 4676 49.74 49.50 606.96 151.74
10 GR Viswanath 94 3885 44.66 44.51 585.89 146.47

Unfamiliar Conditions Rating

Asians Outside Asia

Min Innings: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 SR Tendulkar 135 6247 50.38 54.03 912.02 912.02
2 RS Dravid 126 5918 53.80 41.09 891.90 891.90
3 SM Gavaskar 81 3868 51.57 40.94 882.55 882.55
4 V Kohli 108 4441 41.90 52.62 815.35 815.35
5 VVS Laxman 108 4105 42.32 49.22 715.28 715.28
6 V Sehwag 66 2330 35.85 75.72 628.40 628.40
7 RR Pant 51 1739 36.23 65.35 602.72 602.72
8 CA Pujara 86 2680 31.90 37.29 602.58 602.58
9 M Azharuddin 60 1924 33.75 60.13 588.08 588.08
10 GR Viswanath 61 2195 37.84 42.39 578.29 578.29

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 OVERALL Rating, i.e. 250 pts.

RANK BATSMAN AWAY HOME UC FC TOT CON PTS
1 SR Tendulkar 815.50 179.69 912.02 189.37 2,096.58 209.66
2 SM Gavaskar 750.20 176.81 882.55 179.44 1,989.00 198.90
3 RS Dravid 750.91 164.77 891.90 167.61 1,975.19 197.52
4 V Kohli 648.73 185.86 815.35 181.04 1,830.99 183.10
5 V Sehwag 692.67 192.95 628.40 206.21 1,720.23 172.02
6 VVS Laxman 601.08 154.83 715.28 151.74 1,622.92 162.29
7 M Azharuddin 560.22 171.20 588.08 167.41 1,486.92 148.69
8 CA Pujara 548.04 162.87 602.58 171.66 1,485.15 148.52
9 RR Pant 551.24 161.15 602.72 158.66 1,473.77 147.38
10 GR Viswanath 501.84 154.18 578.29 146.47 1,380.78 138.08

SECONDARY CRITERIA

The Secondary Rating consists of four parts. If Innings are less than the Qualification than the Player gets 50% of the Points. Click on the Rating Titles to see how they were calculated.

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 OVERALL Rating: Home and Away.

TOP FORM AT HOME

Min Innings: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 V Kohli 30 2418 96.72 68.52 948.86 189.77
2 V Sehwag 30 1900 63.33 95.53 804.41 160.88
3 SR Tendulkar 30 2096 80.62 55.89 776.01 155.20
4 SM Gavaskar 30 1871 66.82 50.44 706.43 141.29
5 CA Pujara 30 1734 69.36 52.75 682.22 136.44
6 M Azharuddin 30 1661 63.88 63.98 681.85 136.37
7 RS Dravid 30 1559 62.36 44.98 633.90 126.78
8 GR Viswanath 30 1568 60.31 44.55 617.68 123.54
9 VVS Laxman 30 1433 68.24 50.42 609.91 121.98
10 RR Pant 21 1061 55.84 89.84 559.88 111.98

TOP FORM AWAY

Min Innings: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 RS Dravid 30 2209 88.36 48.87 920.43 736.34
2 V Sehwag 30 1782 61.45 85.10 837.52 670.01
3 SR Tendulkar 30 1809 75.38 55.59 819.96 655.97
4 V Kohli 30 1786 61.59 61.16 757.18 605.74
5 SM Gavaskar 30 1851 63.83 45.52 746.43 597.14
6 M Azharuddin 30 1467 52.39 62.51 666.58 533.27
7 CA Pujara 30 1436 51.29 41.29 633.47 506.78
8 VVS Laxman 30 1397 53.73 57.87 616.52 493.21
9 GR Viswanath 30 1489 49.63 44.57 589.40 471.52
10 RR Pant 30 1131 41.89 66.80 567.36 453.89

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 SM Gavaskar 32 1432 55.08 44.50 873.93 436.97
2 SR Tendulkar 46 1556 39.90 53.66 764.69 382.35
3 GR Viswanath 25 1148 52.18 44.89 758.77 379.39
4 RR Pant 16 704 46.93 70.40 673.84 336.92
5 V Kohli 37 1210 35.59 52.84 655.02 327.51
6 RS Dravid 41 1130 33.24 36.19 548.13 274.07
7 V Sehwag 27 736 30.67 76.19 533.41 266.70
8 M Azharuddin 21 655 34.47 56.42 528.68 264.34
9 VVS Laxman 34 845 30.18 47.66 490.33 245.17
10 CA Pujara 30 723 26.78 37.73 465.10 232.55

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 SM Gavaskar 198 67 33.84 856.15 856.15
2 SR Tendulkar 296 94 31.76 832.93 832.93
3 RS Dravid 254 68 26.77 700.89 700.89
4 RR Pant 70 23 32.86 668.92 668.92
5 V Sehwag 174 52 29.89 666.05 666.05
6 V Kohli 197 46 23.35 584.33 584.33
7 GR Viswanath 145 36 24.83 551.34 551.34
8 CA Pujara 165 38 23.03 515.18 515.18
9 VVS Laxman 191 39 20.42 458.36 458.36
10 M Azharuddin 138 28 20.29 430.09 430.09

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 OVERALL Rating, i.e. 250.00 pts.

RANK BATSMAN TF HM TF AW DIF RNS II TOT SEC RAT
1 SM Gavaskar 141.29 597.14 436.97 856.15 2,031.54 203.15
2 SR Tendulkar 155.20 655.97 382.35 832.93 2,026.44 202.64
3 RS Dravid 126.78 736.34 274.07 700.89 1,838.08 183.81
4 V Sehwag 160.88 670.01 266.70 666.05 1,763.65 176.36
5 V Kohli 189.77 605.74 327.51 584.33 1,707.35 170.74
6 RR Pant 111.98 453.89 336.92 668.92 1,571.71 157.17
7 GR Viswanath 123.54 471.52 379.39 551.34 1,525.78 152.58
8 CA Pujara 136.44 506.78 232.55 515.18 1,390.95 139.09
9 M Azharuddin 136.37 533.27 264.34 430.09 1,364.07 136.41
10 VVS Laxman 121.98 493.21 245.17 458.36 1,318.72 131.87

OVERALL RATING

The OVERALL 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 OV RANK BATSMAN NAT PRI RAT CON RAT SEC RAT FIN RAT
1 1 SR Tendulkar IND 413.61 209.66 202.64 825.91
2 5 SM Gavaskar IND 394.67 198.90 203.15 796.72
3 9 RS Dravid IND 382.62 197.52 183.81 763.94
4 14 V Sehwag IND 397.11 172.02 176.36 745.49
5 17 V Kohli IND 374.82 183.10 170.74 728.65
6 52 VVS Laxman IND 330.41 162.29 131.87 624.57
7 55 M Azharuddin IND 337.20 148.69 136.41 622.30
8 56 RR Pant IND 308.53 147.38 157.17 613.08
9 64 CA Pujara IND 322.43 148.52 139.09 610.04
10 73 GR Viswanath IND 306.64 138.08 152.58 597.29

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
FULL RATING WITH ALL NATIONS

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