Top 10 Greatest Batsmen Of All Time

Consistently called the 'batsmen's diversion', cricket has captivated and awed its fans with a variety of stunning strokes and footwork over the ages. Yielding a unimportant willow, the diversion's best batsmen became well known as they reliably whacked the most frightful bowlers or remained in inflexible safeguard against the threatening men with the cherry.

The criteria of at least 50 Test matches sees the deplorable nonattendance of West Indian George Headley, likewise alluded to as the 'Dark Bradman', and South African Graeme Pollock, both of whom bore the duty of their particular groups, averaging admirably more than 60 in the Test matches they took an interest in.

1. Don Bradman (Australia)

Tests- 52,

 Runs- 6996,

 Average- 99.94,

 100s- 29,

 Highest Score- 334

The Great Don. Finishing with an average that has become the most well-known sports record, Bradman’s aura made him a benchmark in the world of cricket, with every other legendary batsman being measured against this charismatic Australian.

By transcending the game that he played, Bradman achieved the pinnacles in the world of sports with his superhuman stats, stamping himself as the epitome of human success.

2. Sachin Tendulkar (india)

Tests- 188,

 Runs- 15470, 

Average- 55.44,

 100s- 51, 

Highest Score- 248*

Sachin Tendulkar, the former India captain, said a well-balanced Indian team goes into the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019 as the favourites and also singled out hosts England as toughest contenders.

India have been in good form in one-day international cricket over the past 12 months, winning ODI series against South Africa, the Windies, Australia and New Zealand, and these victories put them in the hot seat as one of the favourties to win the World Cup in England and Wales this year.

"I have gone on record saying that we have a perfect balance in the team where we will be competitive in any part of the world or on any surface," Tendulkar told

3. Brian Lara (West Indies)

Tests- 131,

 Runs- 11953,

 Average- 52.28,

 100s- 34,

 Highest Score- 400*

Faced with the uphill task of reviving the fortunes of West Indian cricket after it had threatened to plunge into the abyss, Brian Lara had the dual duty of replicating the brilliance that had been set by the likes of Sobers, Richards and George Headley. 

Following in the footsteps of his proven compatriots, Lara not only matched them with his consistent display of scores but also carved a niche for himself away from their shadows. 

Ending his career with two first-class scores in excess of 400, the Trinidadian provided the audience with a glimpse of the power that West Indies cricket once boasted of. 

4. Sir Vivian Richards (West Indies) 

Tests- 121,

 Runs- 8540, 

Average- 50.23,

 100s- 24,

 Highest Score- 291

Viv Richards, with his inane tendency to thwart the bowling attack all over the park, earmarked a name for himself as the most intimidating and dominating batsman that the bowlers had faced, long before the likes of Sehwag and Gilchrist entered the arena. With pitch perfect timing and an attitude that exuded gallons of confidence, the batsman from the Caribbean, till date, is counted as the most feared cricketer of all generations. 

5. Jacques Kallis (South Africa) 

Tests- 150, 

Runs- 12260, 

Average- 57.02,

 100s- 41,

 Highest Score- 224 

“If world cricket was a museum and all the cricketers were priceless artworks, then Jacques Kallis would be this museum’s Mona Lisa—priceless and one in a billion.” This quote aptly sums up the aura of Jacques Kallis, the most consistent, beyond perfect all-rounder that the world has seen. With a fixed determination that warded off all distractions, Kallis was awarded with the most man-of-the-match awards in the history of Test cricket.

He remained a delight to the eyes, the classical and conventional unsung hero, whose feats often got lost in the midst of Ponting’s aggression or Tendulkar’s divinity.

6. Sunil Gavaskar (India)

Tests- 125,

 Runs- 10122,

 Average- 51.12,

 100s- 34, 

Highest Score- 236

Long before Tendulkar captured the imagination of the Indian sphere, Gavaskar treaded the path to stardom; inspiring a nation to rub shoulders with the giants in the game. The first player to score 10,000 Test runs, Gavaskar’s mode of play centered on a near flawless technique with unmatched concentration levels. 

They say, to be the best, one has to have high standards against the best in the business, an area where Gavaskar flourished in. 2749 runs at an average of 65 with thirteen centuries against the mighty West Indies of the 70s and 80s, also dubbed as the ‘Best Team to Have Ever Played Test Cricket’,  tells its own tale. 

7. Greg Chappell (Australia) 

Tests- 87, 

Runs- 7110,

 Average- 53.86,

 100s- 24,

 Highest Score- 247*

Missing two years of international cricket, after joining the rebel World Series Cricket, might have prevented him from being called Australia’s best batsman after Bradman, but Greg Chappell with awe-dropping records still makes it to our list of the Top 10 Batsmen of All Time, piping Ricky Ponting. 

Playing against bowlers like Michael Holding, Colin Croft and Joel Garner, Chappell remained a hostile competitor, setting the stage for an aggressive breed of Australian players who would go on to reign world cricket.

8. Sir Garfield Sobers (West Indies)

Tests- 93,

 Runs- 8032,

 Average- 57.78, 

100s- 26, 

Highest Score- 365*

Combing an envious batting technique with the unmistakable brash Caribbean flair, Sir Garfield Sobers remains the greatest all-rounder to have played the game. The left hander, who was as proficient on the off-side as he was while picking up his 235 wickets,  was the first batsman in history to hit six sixes in an over against Malcolm Nash. 

Holding the world record for the highest individual score in Tests after he scored 365 in just his fourteenth match, Sobers stood out from the West Indian team of legends who would go on to conquer the cricketing arena in the upcoming decade. 

9. Sir Walter Hammond (England) 

Tests- 85, 

Runs- 7249, 

Average- 58.45,

 100s- 22, 

Highest Score- 336*

Sir Walter Hammond’s greatness can be summed up by the fact that he was constantly compared and contrasted with Don as the greatest batsman of the pre-war era. Sharing a parallel career with Bradman, Hammond shared a riveting rivalry with the Australian, especially after he broke his world record by scoring 336 runs, the highest individual Test score. 

Widely accepted as England’s best batsman with 22 centuries, which was only recently overhauled by Alastair Cook, Hammond held the world record for the most Test runs at the time of his retirement. 

10. Sir Jack Hobbs (England)

Tests- 61, 

Runs- 5410, 

Average- 56.94, 

100s- 15,

 Highest Score- 211

The original ‘Master’ of cricket, Hobbs was a pioneer of the sport, introducing a number of shots to his armory. Sans professional coaching, Hobbs was the first batsman to average over 50 in Test cricket and the first cricketer to be knighted by the Queen. With 199 centuries in competitive cricket and seven Test centuries after the age of forty, including a hundred at 46, Sir Hobbs remains a pivotal influence for modern-day batsmen.