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 Taken | Time Taken | Avg After 10000 Runs | Age When 10000 Runs Scored | Year Achieved |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brian Lara (WI) | 195 | 13y 250d | 52.91 | 35y 103d | 2004 |
| Kumar Sangakkara (SL) | 195 | 15y 121d | 55.80 | 31y 327d | 2005 |
| Sachin Tendulkar (IND) | 195 | 12y 159d | 57.58 | 35y 61d | 2012 |
| Ricky Ponting (AUS) | 196 | 12y 174d | 58.72 | 33y 164d | 2008 |
| Steven Smith (AUS) | 205 | 14y 200d | 56.33 | 35y 242d | 2025 |
| Rahul Dravid (IND) | 206 | 11y 280d | 55.41 | 35y 76d | 2008 |
| Younis Khan (PAK) | 208 | 17y 54d | 52.84 | 39y 144d | 2017 |
| Mahela Jayawardene (SL) | 210 | 14y 146d | 50.72 | 34y 214d | 2011 |
| Sunil Gavaskar (IND) | 212 | 15y 363d | 51.04 | 37y 238d | 1987 |
| Jacques Kallis (SA) | 217 | 13y 74d | 54.37 | 33y 133d | 2009 |
| Joe Root (ENG) | 218 | 9y 171d | 49.57 | 31y 156d | 2022 |
| Alastair Cook (ENG) | 229 | 10y 87d | 46.49 | 31y 155d | 2016 |
| Allan Border (AUS) | 235 | 14y 4d | 52.08 | 37y 160d | 1993 |
| Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI) | 239 | 18y 37d | 50.02 | 37y 252d | 2012 |
| Steve Waugh (AUS) | 244 | 17y 7d | 49.45 | 37y 215d | 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.
