Playing in India is always going to be a challenging task for an overseas batsman. The country known for its spin-friendly pitches needs not just the right skill to tackle world-class Indian spinners but a strong character. A few non-Indian batsmen can perform consistently in the Indian conditions in the Test cricket.
This article will discuss the top 10 overseas batsmen who have scored the most runs in Tests on Indian soil.
Overseas Batters with Most Test Runs in India
| Player | Matches | Inns | Runs | High Score | Avg | 100s/50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clive Lloyd (WI) | 14 | 22 | 1359 | 242* | 75.5 | 4/5 |
| Joe Root (ENG) | 15 | 30 | 1272 | 218 | 45.42 | 3/6 |
| Alastair Cook (ENG) | 13 | 26 | 1235 | 190 | 51.45 | 5/4 |
| Gordon Greenidge (WI) | 14 | 25 | 1042 | 194 | 45.3 | 3/4 |
| Matthew Hayden (AUS) | 11 | 22 | 1027 | 203 | 51.35 | 2/5 |
| Alvin Kallicharran (WI) | 11 | 19 | 992 | 187 | 58.35 | 2/6 |
| Michael Clarke (AUS) | 13 | 25 | 972 | 151 | 40.5 | 3/4 |
| Viv Richards (WI) | 15 | 24 | 954 | 192* | 45.42 | 3/4 |
| Javed Miandad (PAK) | 13 | 21 | 948 | 99 | 49.89 | 0/11 |
| Hashim Amla (SA) | 10 | 17 | 941 | 253* | 62.73 | 4/2 |
Key Insights
Clive Lloyd has aggregated the most Test runs among overseas batters in India. The West Indies batter scored 1359 runs in 22 innings. 1132 of those runs came as a captain, the most by an overseas captain in India.
993 of Lloyd’s runs came in wins for the West Indies, the most by a foreign batter on Indian soil. Gordon Greenidge (579), Rohan Kanhai (524), and Garry Sobers (519) scored 500-plus runs in wins. And all of them played for the West Indies.
Joe Root, on the other hand, has accumulated the most Test runs in losses in India. He has 762 runs in 11 Test defeats (22 innings) for England. Root, though, has hammered the most tons against India.
Alastair Cook has smashed the most Test centuries as an overseas batter in India. The former England batter brought up five hundreds. Lloyd, Hashim Amla, and Everton Weekes follow him with four tons each.
Three of Lloyd’s centuries ended up in victories, the most by a visiting batter in India.
Hashim Amla, Andy Flower, and Andrew Strauss scored two hundreds each in Test defeats in India.
Javed Miandad is the only overseas batter to aggregate more than 10 fifty-plus scores in India. The former Pakistan batter scored 11 Test half-centuries.
Mahela Jayawardene has smashed the highest individual score by an overseas batter on Indian soil. He scored 275 off 435 balls in the second innings of the drawn 2009 Ahmedabad Test.
Flower has the highest Test batting average by an overseas batter in India (minimum 10 innings and 500 runs). He averaged 117.14 while amassing 820 runs in 10 innings for Zimbabwe.
If we keep the minimum criteria to 500 runs, then James Adams has the highest average of 173.33. He scored 520 runs in six innings for the West Indies.
717 of Flower’s runs came as a wicketkeeper. This is the highest run tally by a foreign wicketkeeper-batter on Indian soil.
Everton Weekes has scored the most runs by an overseas batter in a Test series in India. He accrued 779 runs in seven innings (five Tests) for the West Indies in the 1948/49 series.
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