Most Runs in Test Cricket: Top Scorers and India Leaders

On 14,278 runs from 169 matches and 309 innings, England’s Joe Root sits top for most runs in Test cricket since Dec 2001. Alastair Cook (England) is next on 12,472, and Steve Smith (Australia) is third on 10,920.

Behind the tables sit 895 men’s and 24 women’s Tests, running from 19 Dec 2001 through 9 Sep 2026. Anything earlier is outside this scorebook, which trims the totals of batters who started in the previous century. Afghanistan do not feature: the open data set holds none of their games.

Who Has the Most Test Runs Since 2001

Root’s lead is large. His 14,278 runs leave Cook well behind, and only Smith has also reached five figures. Root also has the most hundreds on the list with 41, against 37 for Smith and 33 each for Cook and Kane Williamson (New Zealand).

Volume explains part of it. Root has played 169 Tests in the data, more than anyone in the top 25. Smith has needed only 124 matches for his 10,920, and his average of 56.00 is higher than Root’s 50.45.

England supply five of the top 25 run scorers: Root, Cook, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell and Ben Stokes. Australia, South Africa and Sri Lanka have four each, New Zealand three, India and Pakistan two each, and Bangladesh one through Mushfiqur Rahim.

Most Runs in Test Cricket (Men)

Batter	M	Inns	Runs	HS	Avg	SR	100s	50s
JE Root England	169	309	14,278	262	50.45	57.61	41	69
AN Cook England	161	291	12,472	294	45.35	46.95	33	57
SPD Smith Australia	124	223	10,920	239	56.00	53.96	37	45
KS Williamson New Zealand	110	195	9,515	251	54.06	51.98	33	38
V Kohli India	121	210	9,230	254*	46.85	55.58	30	31
HM Amla South Africa	121	211	9,146	311*	46.66	50.19	28	39
DA Warner Australia	112	205	8,786	335*	44.60	70.19	26	37
KC Sangakkara Sri Lanka	84	151	8,489	319	61.07	54.32	29	33
AB de Villiers South Africa	105	175	8,182	278*	51.78	54.80	21	42
MJ Clarke Australia	107	186	8,146	329*	49.07	55.91	27	25
KP Pietersen England	100	175	8,079	227	48.38	61.76	23	35
AD Mathews Sri Lanka	116	211	8,073	200*	43.88	48.31	15	45
LRPL Taylor New Zealand	109	191	7,597	290	45.49	59.22	19	35
GC Smith South Africa	93	164	7,572	277	49.49	60.78	23	32
IR Bell England	114	198	7,416	235	42.38	49.55	22	42
JH Kallis South Africa	88	149	7,322	224	53.84	49.85	28	27
BA Stokes England	121	220	7,273	258	34.47	58.53	14	37
CA Pujara India	100	175	7,160	206*	43.66	44.29	19	35
Azhar Ali Pakistan	97	180	7,142	302*	42.26	41.93	19	35
Younis Khan Pakistan	80	149	7,135	313	53.65	51.84	24	21
FDM Karunaratne Sri Lanka	99	189	7,113	244	38.87	51.06	16	38
RT Ponting Australia	89	159	6,733	221	45.49	58.74	17	37
DPMD Jayawardene Sri Lanka	78	137	6,615	374	50.50	51.28	21	25
Mushfiqur Rahim Bangladesh	100	183	6,592	219*	39.47	48.65	14	27
TWM Latham New Zealand	95	171	6,450	264*	39.09	48.17	17	31

Most Runs for India in Test Cricket

Batter	M	Inns	Runs	HS	Avg	SR	100s	50s
V Kohli India	121	210	9,230	254*	46.85	55.58	30	31
CA Pujara India	100	175	7,160	206*	43.66	44.29	19	35
SR Tendulkar India	82	139	6,416	248*	52.16	54.07	18	31
R Dravid India	79	141	5,902	270	47.60	43.21	16	27
V Sehwag India	75	132	5,886	319	46.35	85.03	15	25
VVS Laxman India	76	129	5,411	200*	51.53	49.48	12	37
AM Rahane India	82	143	5,067	188	38.68	49.62	12	26
MS Dhoni India	86	139	4,721	224	38.07	58.99	6	31
RG Sharma India	66	116	4,301	212	40.58	57.06	12	18
RA Jadeja India	87	135	4,140	175*	37.98	55.31	6	28

Highest Test Run Scorer for Each Team

Team	Leader	Total	Matches
India	V Kohli	9,230 runs	121
Australia	SPD Smith	10,920 runs	124
England	JE Root	14,278 runs	169
South Africa	HM Amla	9,146 runs	121
New Zealand	KS Williamson	9,515 runs	110
Pakistan	Azhar Ali	7,142 runs	97
Sri Lanka	KC Sangakkara	8,489 runs	84
West Indies	S Chanderpaul	5,995 runs	75
Bangladesh	Mushfiqur Rahim	6,592 runs	100
Zimbabwe	BRM Taylor	2,128 runs	31
Ireland	L Tucker	680 runs	9

Most Runs in Women's Test Cricket

Batter	M	Inns	Runs	HS	Avg	SR	100s	50s
HC Knight England	14	25	974	168*	42.35	48.24	2	5
EA Perry Australia	14	22	904	213*	60.27	46.84	2	4
NR Sciver-Brunt England	12	20	866	169*	45.58	57.66	2	5
S Mandhana India	8	15	780	149	55.71	63.47	2	5
A Sutherland Australia	7	10	715	210	89.38	64.07	4	0
Shafali Verma India	7	14	640	205	49.23	73.14	1	3
TT Beaumont England	12	20	614	208	30.70	48.61	1	2
BL Mooney Australia	9	14	578	106	41.29	52.55	1	4
CM Edwards England	9	18	563	114*	40.21	39.21	1	3
AJ Healy Australia	11	17	502	99	29.53	56.60	0	3

Most Runs in Test Cricket for India

Virat Kohli tops India’s list with 9,230 runs in 121 Tests, including 30 hundreds. That makes him fifth on the overall list, between Williamson and Hashim Amla (South Africa). Cheteshwar Pujara is second for India on 7,160 from exactly 100 Tests.

Sachin Tendulkar appears third on 6,416 and Rahul Dravid fourth on 5,902. Both had long Test careers before Dec 2001, so these totals cover only the later part. Read them as “runs since Dec 2001”, not as career totals.

Virender Sehwag stands out for speed, scoring at 85.03 runs per 100 balls, quicker than any other Indian here. His 319 is also the best score in that table. MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja complete a top 10 that mixes specialist batters with all-rounders.

Averages, Strike Rates and the Team Leaders

Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) has the best average in the main table at 61.07, built from 8,489 runs in just 84 Tests. David Warner (Australia) scored fastest, at a strike rate of 70.19, and his 335* is the highest score in the list.

The team leaders table shows each nation’s top scorer in the data. Shivnarine Chanderpaul leads West Indies with 5,995, Mushfiqur leads Bangladesh with 6,592, and BRM Taylor tops Zimbabwe with 2,128. Ireland’s leader, L Tucker, has 680 from 9 Tests.

For the other formats, see the ODI run scorers list, the bowling side on most Test wickets, or every format record on the Test records hub. Root’s figures are covered match by match on the England team records page, and the India vs England head to head shows how many of these runs came in that series.

Most Runs in Women's Tests

Women’s Tests are rare, with 24 in the data, so the totals are smaller. Heather Knight (England) leads with 974 runs in 14 matches. Ellyse Perry (Australia) has 904, averaging 60.27, and Nat Sciver-Brunt (England) third on 866.

Smriti Mandhana is India’s top scorer with 780 runs from only 8 Tests. Annabel Sutherland (Australia) has the most hundreds in the table, 4, and averages 89.38 across 7 matches.

Questions about Most Test runs

Who has scored the most runs in Test cricket?

England’s Joe Root, with 14,278 runs from 169 matches since Dec 2001. He averages 50.45 and has 41 hundreds. Alastair Cook is second with 12,472.

Who has the most Test runs for India?

Virat Kohli leads India with 9,230 Test runs from 121 matches since Dec 2001. Cheteshwar Pujara is second with 7,160 and Sachin Tendulkar third with 6,416. Tendulkar’s figure counts only his Tests from Dec 2001 onwards.

Who is third on the list of most runs in Test cricket?

Steve Smith of Australia is third, on 10,920 runs from 124 Tests. He averages 56.00 with 37 hundreds. Kane Williamson (New Zealand) follows him on 9,515.

Who made the most runs in one Test innings?

Lara made 400* at St John’s, Antigua, playing for West Indies versus England, and that tops the individual list. Among the leading run scorers, Warner’s 335* is the best. The full list is on the highest Test score page.

Who has the most runs in women's Test cricket?

Heather Knight of England leads with 974 runs in 14 women’s Tests. Ellyse Perry is next with 904, and Smriti Mandhana tops India’s list with 780. The data covers 24 women’s Tests.

Source: ball-by-ball match data from Cricsheet.org (ODC-BY). See how we compile these records.