Top 25 Batsmen With Most Runs In Test Cricket

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.