Test cricket, which is considered the toughest format of cricket, demands patience and long-term focus for a long time. In these tough conditions, only a few players have managed to score 14,000+ runs in Test cricket. The players who hold this record are Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar and Joe Root. Sachin Tendulkar, who has also earned the title of “God of Cricket”, has scored nearly 16,000 runs in test cricket, while Joe Root is at number two with 14,000 runs. These top two players have scored 14,000+ runs in test cricket.
1. Sachin Tendulkar – 15,921 Test Runs
Sachin Tendulkar, the top-order batter for the Indian team in Test cricket, has scored 15,921 runs in the format of cricket, which demands top-class fitness and run-scoring ability with patience and long-term focus. Master Blaster scored these runs with an average of 53.78, with the world-class record of 51 centuries and 68 half-centuries, and he achieved all these achievements in 329 innings.
His calm and aggressive mindset on the field allowed him to score this many runs and led him to the peak of world cricket. When it comes to records, young players look up to Sachin Tendulkar. He has scored 34,357 international runs in 664 matches in his nearly 24-year international cricket career.
In the first Test match against Bangladesh on 10th-13th December 2004, in India’s tour of Bangladesh, Sachin Tendulkar produced an innings for which he is still remembered by fans and experts, as his 248 not-out innings led Team India to a score of 526 runs in their first innings, and later Team India won by an innings and 140 runs. This was Tendulkar’s best score in Test cricket in his career.
Double Tons by Sachin Tendulkar
- 248* – Bangladesh – Dhaka – 2004
- 241* – Australia – Sydney – 2004
- 233* – Sri Lanka – Ahmedabad – 1999
- 217* – New Zealand – Ahmedabad – 1999
- 214 – Australia – Bangalore – 2010
- 203 – Sri Lanka – Colombo – 2010
2. Joe Root – 14,075 Test Runs
Joe Root reached the milestone of 14,000 runs in the longest format of cricket during Day 4 of the second Test between England and New Zealand at The Oval. Root became only the second batter in Test history to achieve this feat. Chasing 463 runs, England were under pressure at 54/3 when Root joined Harry Brook, and the pair added 97 runs for the fourth wicket. Brook scored 58 off 33 balls, while Root remained unbeaten on 75 at stumps as England finished on 182/5.
Joe Root, with 14,075 runs at an average of 50.99 in 302 innings and 165 matches, has a highest score of 262, along with 41 centuries, 67 half-centuries, and six double centuries. His highest score of 262 came against Pakistan in Multan during England’s tour of Pakistan in October 2024. Root played a brilliant innings of 262 runs in 375 balls with 17 fours and spent 601 minutes at the crease. Alongside Harry Brook’s 317, England declared at 823/7 and won the match by an innings and 47 runs.
With these blistering Test stats, Joe Root stands among the greatest Test batters in world cricket. He now needs just 1,850 approx more runs to surpass Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 15,921 Test runs and become the highest run-scorer in the history of Test cricket.
Double Tons by Joe Root
- 200* – Sri Lanka – Lord’s, London – 2014
- 254 – Pakistan – Old Trafford, Manchester – 2016
- 226 – New Zealand – Seddon Park, Hamilton – 2019
- 228 – Sri Lanka – Galle International Stadium, Galle – 2021
- 218 – India – M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai – 2021
- 262 – Pakistan – Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan – 2024
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