Top 25 Batsmen With Most Runs In Test Cricket

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.

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

History of Top Run Scorers

Jack Hobbs of England was the first batsman to cross 5,000 runs in test cricket. He finished his career in 1930 with 5,410 runs. His record was broken by Wally Hammond, also of England, in 1937. Wally Hammond retired in 1947 with 7,249 runs. His record was not broken for another 23 years till Colin Cowdrey, also of England, surpassed him in 1970. Cowdrey took the record to 7,459 but Sir Garry Sobers of West Indies soon overtook him. Sobers held the record from March, 1972 to December, 1981. His tally of 8,032 runs was surpassed by Sir Geoff Boycott of England who retired with 8,114 runs in his career. The record of Boycott was broken by Sunil Gavaskar of India in November 1983. Gavaskar took the record beyond 10,000 runs for the first time. At the time of his retirement, he had scored 10,122 runs. In February 1993, Allan Border of Australia surpassed Gavaskar and he took the record to 11,174 runs by the time he retired in March 1994. His record was then broken by Brian Lara of West Indies in November 2005. Lara retired as the leading run scorer in 2006 with 11,953 runs. His record was broken on October 17, 2008 by Sachin Tendulkar of India. Tendulkar has held the record since then. He retired in 2013 with 15,921 runs.

TOP 25 RUN SCORERS IN TEST CRICKET


RANK BATSMAN NAT FP LP INNS NO 100s RUNS
1 SR Tendulkar IND 1989 2013 329 33 51 15921
2 RT Ponting AUS 1995 2012 287 29 41 13378
3 JH Kallis SA 1995 2013 280 40 45 13289
4 RS Dravid IND 1996 2012 286 32 36 13288
5 AN Cook ENG 2006 2018 291 16 33 12472
6 KC Sangakkara SL 2000 2015 233 17 38 12400
7 BC Lara WI 1990 2006 232 6 34 11953
8 S Chanderpaul WI 1994 2015 280 49 30 11867
9 DPMD Jayawardena SL 1997 2014 252 15 34 11814
10 AR Border AUS 1978 1994 265 44 27 11174
11 SR Waugh AUS 1985 2004 260 46 32 10927
12 JE Root ENG 2012 2022 233 18 28 10629
13 SM Gavaskar IND 1971 1987 214 16 34 10122
14 Younis Khan PAK 2000 2017 213 19 34 10099
15 HM Amla SA 2004 2019 215 16 28 9282
16 GC Smith SA 2002 2014 205 13 27 9265
17 GA Gooch ENG 1975 1995 215 6 20 8900
18 Javed Miandad PAK 1976 1993 189 21 23 8832
19 Inzamam-ul-Haq PAK 1992 2007 200 22 25 8830
20 VVS Laxman IND 1996 2012 225 34 17 8781
21 AB de Villiers SA 2004 2018 191 18 22 8765
22 SPD Smith AUS 2010 2023 162 20 30 8647
23 MJ Clarke AUS 2004 2015 198 22 28 8643
24 ML Hayden AUS 1994 2009 184 14 30 8625
25 V Sehwag IND 2001 2013 180 6 23 8586


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