Spread over a span of five excruciating days and consisting of two innings each, test cricket is truly the toughest format of cricket. Endurance, patience, technique and persistence are necessary for any player to triumph under these trying conditions. Among the players who can cope up with such extreme conditions and among them those who go on to accumulate the highest runs in their career are certainly noteworthy. Test cricket showcases the best fast bowlers and the best spinners of any team and in the face of such an attack survival on the crease, let alone scoring runs can be difficult. In these circumstances those batsmen who score hundreds, double hundreds or triple hundreds and then go on and accumulate the highest runs among all the batsmen in their career are truly legendary. Here we present the top 10 highest run-getters in Test cricket.
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10. Kumar Sangakkara – Highest Run Scorer: A disciple of style, poignant elegance and technique, Sangakkara is one of the most popular batsmen of Sri Lanka in the present times. He has so far accumulated 10486 runs in Test Cricket at an awesome average of 57.
9. MahelaJayawardene – Highest Run Scorer: Just ahead of Sangakkara at no.9 lies the prolific Sri Lankan middle order batsman MahelaJayawardene. He has an average of 49.56 and has scored 10806 runs in Test Cricket.
8.ShivnarineChanderpaul – Highest Run Scorer: The 8th spot in the list of top run getters in test cricket is occupied by West Indian cricketer ShivnarineChanderpaul. Critics had deemed his technique as ‘crabby’ and ‘pathetic’ but Chanderpaul proved that there is life beyond the textbooks by scoring 10830 runs in Tests.
7. Steve Waugh – Highest Run Scorer: Mother Teresa would be proud of him and so would the coaches of this great Australian for he has scored 10927 runs at an average of 51.06 in the 168 tests he has played.
6. Allan Border – Highest Run Scorer: The man who pulled up Australia from the dumps also scored 11174 test runs at an average of 50.56. Allan Border has been everything and done all and can truly be called legendary.
5. Brian Lara – Highest Run Scorer: Brian Lara was probably the only man who could challenge Sachin Tendulkar of India in terms of batting and stroke play. This West Indian genius hit 34 centuries and 48 half centuries in Test cricket which lead him to amass 11953 runs. He also holds the record for the highest individual score in an innings of a test match at 400 not out.
4. Jacques Kallis – Highest Run Scorer: A batsman’s best prize is his wicket and the wicket is the bowler’s best prize. No one knows this beter than this South African. Jacques Kallis is the deadly combination of this duality for he is both a great bowler and a batsman. He has scored 13128 runs in Tests and has an average of 56.10. The question most asked in Cricket is whether Jacques Kallis is a batsman who can bowl or a bowler who can bat.
3. Rahul Dravid – Highest Run Scorer: If money could buy everything then the first man who would be sold his Rahul Dravid. He has rescued India from death more often than any man has ever. In doing so he has scored 13288 runs at an average of 52.31 in 164 matches.
2. Ricky Ponting – Highest Run Scorer: The most uncompromising player in Australian history, Ricky Ponting sits just below Sir Don Bradman in terms of overall ratings. Though his captaincy has been questioned several times, but never is his willow. He has scored 13378 runs, hit 41 centuries and has an average of 51.85. Through this he comes in at number 2 in the list of highest run scorers in test cricket.
1. Sachin Tendulkar – Highest Run Scorer: The numero uno in the list of the highest run scorers in Test cricket is Little Master Sachin Tendulkar. With a career spanning two decades and with a batting average of 53.86, Sachin has amassed 15837 from test 198 matches.