Ten thousand runs in Test cricket is an elite cricketing achievement, reached by only a very few legendary batsmen in the sport. However, achieving it in the fewest innings truly defines an elite class of players who have mastered the art of consistent, rapid scoring.
This article will rank the batsmen (in ascending) by the number of innings the batsmen have taken to reach the 10000 Test runs mark.
Fastest to 10000 Runs in Test Cricket
| Batter | Innings to 10000 Runs | Time Taken | Avg After 10000 Runs | Month & Year Achieved |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brian Lara (WI) | 195 | 13y 250d | 52.91 | August 2004 |
| Kumar Sangakkara (SL) | 195 | 15y 121d | 55.66 | March 2005 |
| Sachin Tendulkar (IND) | 195 | 12y 159d | 57.61 | December 2012 |
| Ricky Ponting (AUS) | 196 | 12y 174d | 58.85 | May 2008 |
| Steven Smith (AUS) | 205 | 14y 200d | 56.33 | January 2025 |
| Rahul Dravid (IND) | 206 | 11y 280d | 55.42 | March 2008 |
| Younis Khan (PAK) | 208 | 17y 54d | 53.10 | April 2017 |
| Mahela Jayawardene (SL) | 210 | 14y 146d | 50.91 | December 2011 |
| Sunil Gavaskar (IND) | 212 | 15y 363d | 51.05 | March 1987 |
| Jacques Kallis (SA) | 217 | 13y 74d | 54.43 | February 2009 |
| Joe Root (ENG) | 218 | 9y 171d | 49.58 | June 2022 |
| Alastair Cook (ENG) | 229 | 10y 87d | 46.49 | May 2016 |
| Allan Border (AUS) | 235 | 14y 4d | 52.09 | January 1993 |
| Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI) | 239 | 18y 37d | 50.02 | April 2012 |
| Steve Waugh (AUS) | 244 | 17y 7d | 49.67 | January 2003 |
Fastest to Every 1000 Test Runs
Key Insights
The West Indian legendary batsman Brian Lara, Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara, and the master Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar are the fastest to reach 10,000 runs in terms of the number of Test innings, all achieving it in 195 innings.
Joe Root, who is the 14th entry on this list, took 218 Test innings to reach the milestone. Jacques Kallis, the former South African all-rounder, also reached the landmark in the same number of innings.
Root also tops the current players’ list for the most Test career runs.
Joe Root is the youngest to reach the landmark 5-digit runs tally – a record he shares with fellow English batter Alastair Cook, who also took 31 years and 157 days to achieve the feat. They are followed by Sachin Tendulkar (31 years 326 days), South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis (33 years 133 days), and Australia’s Ricky Ponting (33 years 163 days).
Additionally, Joe Root is the first and only batsman to score 10,000 Test runs in less than a decade.
Ricky Ponting had the best average while reaching the 10K mark among all the names on the above list.
Among current players, Kane Williamson is the only one who can break into the 10,000 Test run club in the near future.
Virat Kohli is the fastest to 10,000 runs in ODIs, both in terms of innings played and years taken to achieve the feat.
Only 7 players on the above list have also featured in the ODI’s 10K club list.
