The only Indian batsman to cross 1000 runs mark in Tests in South Africa is Sachin Tendulkar. The legendary Indian cricketer has 1000+ Test runs in 5 host nations, including the home. Sachin also scored 1000 Test runs against 7 cricketing nations – a record he jointly holds with Rahul Dravid and Alastair Cook.
The current Indian coach, Rahul Dravid and the sipper, Virat Kohli form the next two places in the list of Indian batsmen with the most Test runs in South Africa.
The former cricketers VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly are the other Indian batsmen with more than 500 runs in Tests in South Africa.
Let’s look into the top ten Indian cricketers to have the most runs in South Africa.
Most Test runs by Indian batsmen in South Africa
| BATSMEN | INNS | RUNS | HS | 100 | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sachin Tendulkar | 28 | 1161 | 169 | 5 | 46.44 |
| Virat Kohli | 13 | 690 | 153 | 2 | 53.07 |
| Rahul Dravid | 22 | 624 | 148 | 1 | 29.71 |
| VVS Laxman | 18 | 566 | 96 | 0 | 40.42 |
| Cheteshwar Pujara | 18 | 526 | 153 | 1 | 29.22 |
| Sourav Ganguly | 16 | 506 | 73 | 0 | 36.14 |
| Ajinkya Rahane | 11 | 401 | 96 | 0 | 40.10 |
| Virender Sehwag | 15 | 382 | 105 | 1 | 25.46 |
| MS Dhoni | 13 | 370 | 90 | 0 | 28.46 |
| Mohammed Azharuddin | 12 | 280 | 115 | 1 | 23.33 |
Stats Highlights
Sachin’s 169 score against South Africa in 1997 in Cape Town is the highest Test score by an Indian batsman in Proteas. Sachin also had a 155 knock in 2011 that came in Bloemfontein, whereas the other two batsmen to have 150+ scores in SA are Virat and Cheteshwar Pujara.
The little master also has the highest number of century scores in the game’s longest format in the country – 5.
Virat’s 50+ average with the bat is the highest for any Indian batsman in South Africa among anyone who has played more than 10 innings.
Interestingly the former pacer, Zaheer Khan, has hit 6 sixes which still tops the Indian batting chart in SA. Zaheer has also got out for a duck 5 times – most for his country’s batsman in South Africa.
