The Top 10 Asian Batsmen in Test Cricket [Statistically]

Test cricket is considered the toughest format among the three formats as it truly tests the patience, grit, and ability of the players. That’s why not many can overcome the challenges of Test cricket and those who can are etched in the history books forever.

One of the reasons for failure of several good players in Test cricket is the inability to adapt in foreign conditions, especially for batsmen from the Asian continent. But, as aforementioned, there have been a few endowed personalities who have performed exceedingly well at home conditions as well as overseas.

In this piece we’ll be trying to figure out the top 10 Asian batsmen analyzing the performances in Asian conditions and non-Asian conditions.

Table of Contents

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In Asian Conditions

Since we are talking about the Asian batsmen in Asian conditions, the numbers are certain to be brilliant.

Here are the top 10 Asian batsmen in Asian conditions:

SN	BATSMEN	TEAM	MATCHES	INNINGS	NO	RUNS	HS	AVERAGE	100s	50s	0s
1	Sachin Tendulkar	India	123	194	22	9674	248*	56.24	33	38	4
2	Mahela Jayawardene	Sri Lanka	109	179	12	9399	374	56.28	28	42	8
3	Kumar Sangakkara	Sri Lanka	98	165	13	9355	319	61.54	30	36	9
4	Rahul Dravid	India	95	160	16	7370	270	51.18	22	32	5
5	Younis Khan	Pakistan	75	133	14	6926	313	58.20	27	19	12
6	Virender Sehwag	India	68	114	5	6256	319	57.39	18	24	8
7	Sunil Gavaskar	India	79	133	10	6254	236*	50.84	19	30	7
8	Javed Miandad	Pakistan	76	111	15	5492	280*	57.20	14	28	2
9	Angelo Mathews	Sri Lanka	81	140	22	5450	199	46.18	10	31	5
10	Sanath Jayasuriya	Sri Lanka	75	124	9	5188	340	45.11	11	25	8

Table1: Top 10 Asian Batsmen With Most Runs In Asia
Indices:- * (Not Out) / NO (Not Out) / Ave (Average) / HS (Highest Score) / 100s (Total Centuries) / 50s (Total Half Centuries) / 0s (Total Ducks)

Highlights

Among Asian batsmen with more than 2000 runs in Asia, Kumar Sangakkara has the highest average of 61.54.
Mahela Jayawardene’s highest Test score (374) is also the highest Test score by an Asian batsman as well as in Asian conditions.
96 Asian batsmen have scored more than 1500 runs in Asia. Among them:
- 35 are Pakistani batsmen
- 31 are Indian batsmen
- 23 are Sri Lankan batsmen
- 7 are Bangladeshi batsmen
With 27 hundreds and just 19 fifties, Younis Khan has the best conversion rate among all the Asian batsmen.
On a contrasting note, Younis also has the most number of ducks by an Asian batsman in Asia among those with 4000+ runs, followed by Tilakaratne Dilshan who has 11 ducks in 63 matches.
Virender Sehwag has the least number of not-out innings (5) among Asian batsmen with over 4000 runs in Asia.

READ: GREATEST NON-ASIAN TEST BATSMEN IN ASIAN CONDITIONS

In Non-Asian Conditions

Sachin Tendulkar – Asian Batsman with the Most Runs in Non-Asian conditions

While travelling, Asian batsmen have been found struggling. The numbers, too, are a bit less appealing than the numbers in Asia.

Here are the top 10 Asian batsmen in Non-Asian conditions:

SN	BATSMAN	TEAM	MATCHES	INNINGS	NO	RUNS	HS	AVERAGE	100s	50s	0s
1	Sachin Tendulkar	India	77	135	11	6247	241*	50.37	18	30	10
2	Rahul Dravid	India	68	124	16	5895	233	54.58	14	31	2
3	VVS Laxman	India	61	108	11	4105	178	42.31	8	25	7
4	Virat Kohli	India	52	95	1	4079	200	43.39	13	16	8
5	Sunil Gavaskar	India	46	81	6	3868	221	51.57	15	15	5
6	Inzamam ul Haq	Pakistan	51	90	7	3725	148	44.87	10	21	5
7	Javed Miandad	Pakistan	48	78	6	3340	271	46.38	9	15	4
8	Younis Khan	Pakistan	43	80	5	3173	218	42.30	7	14	7
9	Mohammad Yousuf	Pakistan	37	69	2	3054	203	45.58	8	15	8
10	Kumar Sangakkara	Sri Lanka	36	68	4	3045	270	47.57	8	16	2

Table2: Top 10 Asian Batsmen With Most Runs Outside Asia
Indices:- * (Not Out) / NO (Not Out) / Ave (Average) / HS (Highest Score) / 100s (Total Centuries) / 50s (Total Half Centuries) / 0s (Total Ducks)

Highlights:

Among Asian batsmen with more than 2000 runs outside Asia, Rahul Dravid has the highest average of 54.58.
45 Asian batsmen have scored more than 1500 Test runs outside Asia. Among them:
- 19 are Pakistani batsmen
- 15 are Indian batsmen
- 10 are Sri Lankan batsmen
- 1 is Bangladeshi batsman (Tamim Iqbal- 1548 runs)
Indian Captain Virat Kohli leads the chart of Asian batsmen with most Test runs outside Asia among active players with 3274 runs, followed by his compatriot as well as deputy Ajinkya Rahane (2205 runs).
Mahela Jayawardene, Virender Sehwag, and Sanath Jayasuriya are the three batsmen who featured in the top 10 list in Asian conditions but not in this list.
- Jayasuriya’s average outside Asia is 30.25, which is 15 less than his average in Asia.
- Mahela’s average outside Asia is 34.50, which is 20 less than his average in Asia.
- Sehwag’s average outside Asia is 35.66 which is 22 less than his average in Asia.
Inzamam ul Haq is the only batsman from the above list who hasn’t scored a double hundred outside Asia.
Hanif Mohammad (Pakistan) is the only Asian batsman to score a triple century (337) outside Asia.
Among active players, Azhar Ali’s 205* is the highest individual score by an Asian batsman outside Asia.
With just 1 half century and 5 centuries, current Indian coach Ravi Shastri has the best 50 to 100 conversion rate among all the Asian batsmen in non-Asian conditions.

KNOW THIS: WHAT IS A GOOD BATTING AVERAGE IN CRICKET?

Overall

Combining the performances in Asia and outside Asia, here are the top 10 Asian batsmen with most runs in Test cricket:

SN	BATSMEN	TEAM	MATCHES	INNINGS	NO	RUNS	HS	AVERAGE	100s	50s	0s
1	Sachin Tendulkar	India	200	329	33	15921	248*	53.78	51	68	14
2	Rahul Dravid	India	163	284	32	13265	270	52.63	36	63	7
3	Kumar Sangakkara	Sri Lanka	134	233	17	12400	319	57.40	38	52	11
4	Mahela Jayawardene	Sri Lanka	149	252	15	11814	374	49.84	34	50	15
5	Sunil Gavaskar	India	125	214	16	10122	236*	51.12	34	45	12
6	Younis Khan	Pakistan	118	213	19	10099	313	52.05	34	33	19
7	Javed Miandad	Pakistan	124	189	21	8832	280*	52.57	23	43	6
8	Inzamam ul Haq	Pakistan	119	198	22	8829	329	50.16	25	46	15
9	VVS Laxman	India	134	225	34	8781	281	45.97	17	46	15
10	Virat Kohli	India	111	187	11	8676	254*	49.29	29	29	14

Table3: Top 10 Asian batsmen with most runs in Test Cricket
Indices:- * (Not Out) / NO (Not Out) / Ave (Average) / HS (Highest Score) / 100s (Total Centuries) / 50s (Total Half Centuries) / 0s (Total Ducks)

Highlights:

Only 13 batsmen have aggregated more than 10 thousand runs in Test cricket. Out of those 13, 6 are Asian batsmen.

Virender Sehwag is the only Asian batsman to score 2 triple centuries in Test cricket. Don Bradman, Chris Gayle, and Brian Lara also have 2 triple centuries each to their names.

Kumar Sangakkara’s average of 57.40 is the highest in Test cricket for any Asian batsman.

51 centuries by Sachin Tendulkar is the most by anyone in Test cricket history.

Wrap Up

There is no denying that Sachin Tendulkar is the greatest batsman ever, but everyone would agree when I say that Rahul Dravid should also be considered as great as Tendulkar is considered to be. Kumar Sangakkara is another player who doesn’t get enough credits for his marvelous contribution for the Lankan Lions.

Talking about the present generation, it won’t be a surprise to see Virat Kohli gets into all top 10 list in a short while after international cricket resumes.