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). They are updated till 2026-02-05. Brief explanation of the ratings is given before each section (Detailed Explanation) and in the last section. Here are the Top 10 Indian batsmen in Test Cricket since 1950.

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. ATTACKING
3.3.1. Against All Teams
3.3.2. Against Top Teams
3.4. BIG INNINGS POTENTIAL
3.4.1. Against All Teams
3.4.2. Against Top Teams
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. LOW SCORING INNS
5.2. TOP FORM
5.3. IMPACT INNS
5.4. SECONDARY RATING
6. OVERALL RATING
6.1. BRIEF EXPLANATION
6.1.1. Dynamic Nature
6.1.2. Trend Setter (TS)
6.1.3. Top Teams (TT)
6.1.4. Abbreviations
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, Strike Rate, Top Inns
Conditions Home, Away, In Asia, Outside Asia
Secondary Top Form, Low Scoring Inns, Impact Inns

QUALIFICATION

Min Innings (TT) 30
Min Career Runs 1000

PRIMARY CRITERIA

The Primary Rating is divided into 4 main sections:-

CRITERIA STAT POINTS
Prolific Runs Scored 250.00
Consistent Average 400.00
Attacking Strike Rate 100.00
Big Innings Potential Top Inns (Runs) 250.00

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 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 193 8114 230.00
RANK ERA 2 NAT FP LP MP INNS RUNS RAT
TS AR Border AUS 1978 1994 1986 265 11174 240.00
1 SM Gavaskar IND 1971 1987 1979 214 10122 217.40
2 DB Vengsarkar IND 1976 1992 1984 185 6868 147.51
3 M Azharuddin IND 1984 2000 1992 147 6215 133.49
4 GR Viswanath IND 1969 1983 1976 155 6080 130.59
RANK ERA 3 NAT FP LP MP INNS RUNS RAT
TS SR Tendulkar IND 1989 2013 2001 329 15921 250.00
1 SR Tendulkar IND 1989 2013 2001 329 15921 250.00
2 RS Dravid IND 1996 2012 2004 286 13288 208.66
3 VVS Laxman IND 1996 2012 2004 225 8781 137.88
4 V Sehwag IND 2001 2013 2007 180 8586 134.82
RANK ERA 4 NAT FP LP MP INNS RUNS RAT
TS JE Root ENG 2012 2026 2019 298 13943 240.00
1 V Kohli IND 2011 2025 2018 210 9230 158.88
2 CA Pujara IND 2010 2023 2016.5 176 7195 123.85

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 2000
Min Runs (TT) 1600

Against All Teams

RANK BATSMAN INNS NO RUNS AVE R AVE RAT
TS GS Sobers 160 21 8032 57.78 62.64 160.00
1 SM Gavaskar 214 16 10122 51.12 54.31 138.72
2 SR Tendulkar 329 33 15921 53.79 53.47 136.58
3 RS Dravid 286 32 13288 52.31 52.34 133.69
4 V Sehwag 180 6 8586 49.34 49.34 126.03
5 V Kohli 210 13 9230 46.85 47.75 121.97
6 VVS Laxman 225 34 8781 45.97 46.78 119.50
7 M Azharuddin 147 9 6215 45.04 46.72 119.34
8 GR Viswanath 155 10 6080 41.93 44.90 114.69
9 CA Pujara 176 11 7195 43.61 44.77 114.35
10 DB Vengsarkar 185 22 6868 42.13 44.23 112.98

Against Top Teams

RANK BATSMAN INNS NO RUNS AVE R AVE RAT
TS GS Sobers 124 16 6474 59.94 66.47 240.00
1 SM Gavaskar 176 13 8276 50.77 55.34 199.82
2 V Sehwag 123 3 6170 51.42 53.56 193.38
3 SR Tendulkar 218 18 9408 47.04 49.52 178.80
4 V Kohli 160 9 6859 45.42 48.25 174.20
5 VVS Laxman 161 24 6068 44.29 46.98 169.64
6 GR Viswanath 130 8 5229 42.86 46.87 169.23
7 M Azharuddin 97 7 3793 42.14 46.48 167.83
8 RS Dravid 186 20 7255 43.70 46.17 166.72
9 DB Vengsarkar 152 18 5548 41.40 44.63 161.13
10 CA Pujara 144 8 5695 41.88 44.33 160.08

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 2000
Min Runs (TT) 1600
Min Average 25

Against All Teams

RANK BATSMAN R4BF BF SR R SR RAT
TS N Kapil Dev 4481 5580 80.30 90.81 40.00
1 V Sehwag 8586 10441 82.23 81.46 35.88
2 M Azharuddin 5720 9897 57.80 63.55 27.99
3 SR Tendulkar 15910 29431 54.06 55.42 24.41
4 V Kohli 9230 16608 55.58 53.44 23.54
5 SM Gavaskar 6809 15327 44.42 52.13 22.96
6 GR Viswanath 3866 8858 43.64 52.05 22.92
7 VVS Laxman 8781 17786 49.37 50.17 22.10
8 DB Vengsarkar 4790 11354 42.19 47.82 21.06
9 RS Dravid 13288 31263 42.50 43.42 19.13
10 CA Pujara 7195 16217 44.37 42.95 18.92

Against Top Teams

RANK BATSMAN R4BF BF SR R SR RAT
TS N Kapil Dev 3559 4345 81.91 93.76 60.00
1 V Sehwag 6170 7528 81.96 81.33 52.04
2 M Azharuddin 3632 6354 57.16 63.79 40.82
3 SR Tendulkar 9408 17839 52.74 54.30 34.75
4 V Kohli 6859 12541 54.69 52.90 33.85
5 GR Viswanath 3802 8622 44.10 52.87 33.84
6 SM Gavaskar 5865 13388 43.81 51.85 33.18
7 VVS Laxman 6068 12081 50.23 51.24 32.79
8 DB Vengsarkar 4102 9901 41.43 47.36 30.30
9 CA Pujara 5695 13252 42.97 41.79 26.74
10 RS Dravid 7255 18241 39.77 40.71 26.05

BIG INNINGS POTENTIAL

Ave HS

In this criteria, we have taken the top 7 scores of the batsman. 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 All Teams

RANK BATSMAN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 AVE HS RAT
TS BC Lara 400* 375 277 226 221 216 213 275.43 80.00
1 V Sehwag 319 309 293 254 201* 201 195 253.14 73.53
2 V Kohli 254* 243 235 213 211 204 200 222.86 64.73
3 RS Dravid 270 233 222 217 200* 191 190 217.57 63.20
4 SR Tendulkar 248* 241* 217 214 203 201* 194* 216.86 62.99
5 SM Gavaskar 236* 221 220 205 182* 176 172 201.71 58.59
6 VVS Laxman 281 200* 178 176* 167 154* 148 186.29 54.11
7 CA Pujara 206* 204 202 193 159 153 153 181.43 52.70
8 M Azharuddin 199 192 182 179 163* 163* 152 175.71 51.04
9 GR Viswanath 222 179 161* 145 139 137 131 159.14 46.22
10 DB Vengsarkar 166 164* 159 157* 157 153 146* 157.43 45.73

Against Top Teams

RANK BATSMAN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 AVE HS RAT
TS DPMD Jayawardena 374 275 242 240 237 213* 195 253.71 170.00
1 V Sehwag 319 309 293 254 201* 201 195 253.14 169.62
2 V Kohli 254* 243 235 213 186 169 167 209.57 140.42
3 SM Gavaskar 236* 221 220 205 182* 172 172 201.14 134.77
4 SR Tendulkar 241* 214 203 194* 179 177 169 196.71 131.81
5 RS Dravid 270 233 180 177 148 146* 144* 185.43 124.25
6 CA Pujara 206* 204 202 193 153 153 145* 179.43 120.23
7 VVS Laxman 281 200* 178 167 148 143* 130 178.14 119.36
8 GR Viswanath 222 179 161* 145 139 137 131 159.14 106.63
9 M Azharuddin 192 163* 163* 141 122 115 110 143.71 96.30
10 DB Vengsarkar 159 157* 157 146* 137 126* 112 142.00 95.15

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 40 percent.

RANK BATSMAN PRO CON BIP ATT RAT PRI PTS
1 SR Tendulkar 250.00 315.37 194.79 59.16 819.33 327.73
2 SM Gavaskar 217.40 338.54 193.36 56.14 805.44 322.18
3 V Sehwag 134.82 319.41 243.14 87.92 785.30 314.12
4 RS Dravid 208.66 300.41 187.44 45.18 741.68 296.67
5 V Kohli 158.88 296.17 205.15 57.39 717.59 287.04
6 VVS Laxman 137.88 289.14 173.47 54.89 655.39 262.15
7 M Azharuddin 133.49 287.17 147.33 68.81 636.80 254.72
8 GR Viswanath 130.59 283.92 152.86 56.76 624.13 249.65
9 CA Pujara 123.85 274.43 172.92 45.66 616.86 246.74
10 DB Vengsarkar 147.51 274.12 140.87 51.37 613.87 245.55

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 30.00
Away 120.00
Familiar Conditions 30.00
Unfamiliar Conditions 120.00

HOME/AWAY

HM/AW 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 Vs Top Teams: 15

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 V Sehwag 89 4656 54.14 83.43 765.15 22.95
2 SR Tendulkar 153 7216 52.67 53.22 748.76 22.46
3 SM Gavaskar 108 5067 50.17 46.77 744.77 22.34
4 V Kohli 87 4336 55.59 59.31 723.70 21.71
5 M Azharuddin 66 3412 55.93 56.48 672.19 20.17
6 DB Vengsarkar 80 3725 55.60 42.69 654.30 19.63
7 RS Dravid 120 5598 51.36 42.38 651.91 19.56
8 GR Viswanath 81 3502 47.32 44.82 648.75 19.46
9 CA Pujara 80 3839 52.59 49.38 624.66 18.74
10 VVS Laxman 91 3767 51.60 48.85 616.23 18.49

Away From Home

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 15

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 SR Tendulkar 176 8705 54.75 54.78 804.30 96.52
2 SM Gavaskar 106 5055 52.11 41.73 775.29 93.03
3 RS Dravid 166 7690 53.03 42.60 745.79 89.49
4 V Sehwag 91 3930 44.66 80.86 708.62 85.03
5 V Kohli 123 4894 41.13 52.64 640.41 76.85
6 VVS Laxman 134 5014 42.49 49.77 605.45 72.65
7 CA Pujara 96 3356 36.48 39.75 552.06 66.25
8 M Azharuddin 81 2803 36.40 59.35 524.80 62.98
9 DB Vengsarkar 105 3143 32.74 41.66 502.93 60.35
10 GR Viswanath 74 2578 36.31 42.19 498.34 59.80

FAMILIAR/UNFAMILIAR CONDITIONS

FC/UC 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 Vs Top Teams: 20

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 V Sehwag 114 6256 57.39 84.95 894.57 26.84
2 SR Tendulkar 194 9674 56.24 54.08 836.45 25.09
3 SM Gavaskar 133 6254 50.85 46.52 827.21 24.82
4 V Kohli 102 4789 52.63 58.62 789.80 23.69
5 M Azharuddin 87 4291 52.98 56.68 741.31 22.24
6 CA Pujara 90 4515 55.74 49.99 738.86 22.17
7 RS Dravid 160 7370 51.18 43.72 727.07 21.81
8 DB Vengsarkar 103 4405 50.63 43.16 695.39 20.86
9 GR Viswanath 94 3885 44.66 44.51 680.72 20.42
10 VVS Laxman 117 4676 49.74 49.50 649.76 19.49

Unfamiliar Conditions Rating

Asians Outside Asia

Min Innings Vs All Teams: 10

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 SR Tendulkar 135 6247 50.38 54.03 935.15 112.22
2 RS Dravid 126 5918 53.80 41.09 919.82 110.38
3 SM Gavaskar 81 3868 51.57 40.94 917.32 110.08
4 V Kohli 108 4441 41.90 52.62 844.44 101.33
5 VVS Laxman 108 4105 42.32 49.22 725.19 87.02
6 M Azharuddin 60 1924 33.75 60.13 625.46 75.06
7 CA Pujara 86 2680 31.90 37.29 624.87 74.98
8 V Sehwag 66 2330 35.85 75.72 624.20 74.90
9 DB Vengsarkar 82 2463 32.41 40.96 593.16 71.18
10 GR Viswanath 61 2195 37.84 42.39 589.30 70.72

CONDITIONS RATING

The Conditions Rating is the addition of the points a batsman scored in the four criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is 30%.

RANK BATSMAN AWAY HOME UC FC CON PTS
1 SR Tendulkar 96.52 22.46 112.22 25.09 256.29
2 SM Gavaskar 93.03 22.34 110.08 24.82 250.27
3 RS Dravid 89.49 19.56 110.38 21.81 241.24
4 V Kohli 76.85 21.71 101.33 23.69 223.59
5 V Sehwag 85.03 22.95 74.90 26.84 209.73
6 VVS Laxman 72.65 18.49 87.02 19.49 197.66
7 CA Pujara 66.25 18.74 74.98 22.17 182.14
8 M Azharuddin 62.98 20.17 75.06 22.24 180.44
9 DB Vengsarkar 60.35 19.63 71.18 20.86 172.02
10 GR Viswanath 59.80 19.46 70.72 20.42 170.40

SECONDARY CRITERIA

Secondary Rating

It consists of three 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 three secondary criteria and thier weightage is as follows:-

CRITERIA POINTS
Low Scoring Inns 50.00
Top Form 100.00
Impact Innings 150.00

LOW SCORING INNS

LSI RATING

Low Scoring Inns (LSI) are those inns in which batting average is less than 30.

Min Innings Vs All Teams: 15

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 SR Tendulkar 142 4103 29.31 51.29 817.79 40.89
2 SM Gavaskar 101 2785 28.42 40.42 782.56 39.13
3 V Kohli 99 2688 27.43 49.62 752.13 37.61
4 RS Dravid 129 3376 27.90 35.17 740.52 37.03
5 GR Viswanath 82 2319 29.35 40.29 725.70 36.28
6 VVS Laxman 104 2931 30.85 46.63 721.77 36.09
7 V Sehwag 70 1878 28.03 79.98 650.11 32.51
8 DB Vengsarkar 88 2149 26.86 38.82 642.57 32.13
9 CA Pujara 74 1779 25.06 37.37 618.13 30.91
10 M Azharuddin 66 1461 23.19 55.16 576.71 28.84

TOP FORM

TF RATING

Points to note about Top Form Rating:-

  • TF is calculated by taking the best 50 consecutive innings of a batsman.
  • The inns are taken such that his points are maximum.
  • Only innings against Top Teams are considered.

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 20

RANK BATSMAN INNS RUNS AVE SR RAT WTG
1 V Sehwag 50 3128 65.17 77.46 888.96 88.90
2 V Kohli 50 3070 69.77 61.51 851.07 85.11
3 SM Gavaskar 50 3216 68.43 47.97 816.96 81.70
4 RS Dravid 50 2756 65.62 42.92 751.10 75.11
5 SR Tendulkar 50 2758 61.29 57.88 748.55 74.85
6 GR Viswanath 50 2682 57.06 46.59 695.82 69.58
7 VVS Laxman 50 2469 54.87 54.90 678.82 67.88
8 CA Pujara 50 2490 50.82 43.49 648.87 64.89
9 DB Vengsarkar 50 2285 55.73 46.40 622.38 62.24
10 M Azharuddin 50 2137 45.47 55.95 592.92 59.29

IMPACT INNS

II RATING

Impact Inns are those innings which have an impact in terms of runs or strike rate. Know All About II. Points to note about II:-

  • A Batsman should score at least 30 runs to qualify.
  • An Inn is included in II if it is 15 percent of the total runs or
  • The SR is high or in a successful chase while being Not Out.

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 30

RANK BATSMAN DIS II II/Dis% RAT WTG
1 SR Tendulkar 296 127 42.91 821.52 123.23
2 SM Gavaskar 198 81 40.91 769.81 115.47
3 RS Dravid 254 101 39.76 694.67 104.20
4 V Sehwag 174 69 39.66 657.32 98.60
5 V Kohli 197 71 36.04 640.49 96.07
6 GR Viswanath 145 54 37.24 634.44 95.17
7 DB Vengsarkar 163 57 34.97 608.18 91.23
8 VVS Laxman 191 67 35.08 601.17 90.18
9 CA Pujara 165 57 34.55 571.72 85.76
10 M Azharuddin 138 42 30.43 514.34 77.15

SECONDARY RATING

Secondary Rating is the addition of the points a batsman scored in the three criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is 30%.

RANK BATSMAN LSI TF II SEC RAT
1 SR Tendulkar 40.89 74.85 123.23 238.97
2 SM Gavaskar 39.13 81.70 115.47 236.30
3 V Sehwag 32.51 88.90 98.60 220.00
4 V Kohli 37.61 85.11 96.07 218.79
5 RS Dravid 37.03 75.11 104.20 216.34
6 GR Viswanath 36.28 69.58 95.17 201.03
7 VVS Laxman 36.09 67.88 90.18 194.15
8 DB Vengsarkar 32.13 62.24 91.23 185.59
9 CA Pujara 30.91 64.89 85.76 181.55
10 M Azharuddin 28.84 59.29 77.15 165.28

OVERALL RATING

The OVERALL Rating is the addition of the points of all the above criteria. The rating is out of 1,000 Pts.

RANK OV RANK BATSMAN NAT PRI RAT CON RAT SEC RAT FIN RAT
1 1 SR Tendulkar IND 327.73 256.29 238.97 822.99
2 5 SM Gavaskar IND 322.18 250.27 236.30 808.74
3 10 RS Dravid IND 296.67 241.24 216.34 754.25
4 12 V Sehwag IND 314.12 209.73 220.00 743.85
5 17 V Kohli IND 287.04 223.59 218.79 729.41
6 35 VVS Laxman IND 262.15 197.66 194.15 653.96
7 49 GR Viswanath IND 249.65 170.40 201.03 621.09
8 56 CA Pujara IND 246.74 182.14 181.55 610.43
9 58 DB Vengsarkar IND 245.55 172.02 185.59 603.16
10 59 M Azharuddin IND 254.72 180.44 165.28 600.43

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. .

Top Teams (TT)

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

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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