5 Indian batsmen with the most Test runs this decade (2010-2019)
The current decade has been a riveting one for India in Test cricket. The decade started with India steamrolling Bangladesh 2-0 in their own backyard with batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar leading from the front with two centuries. The next year 2011, saw probably one of India’s worst performances in Test cricket as they plummeted to an all-time low. Their visits to England and Australia were catastrophic as they were whitewashed 4-0 on both these tours.
India avenged their loss to Australia when the Kangaroos visited the Indian shores in 2013 by beating the Aussies by a 4-0 margin and then trounced the West Indies in November 2013, in what was Sachin Tendulkar's last Test series for India.
In 2014, India's tour to England was a dismal one, as they lost three consecutive Tests after beating the hosts at Lord's. The subsequent Australian tour too, was a riveting one, as Kohli announced himself in style in the Test arena with four centuries during the tour. In 2015, India thrashed Sri Lanka and South Africa and the next-gen Indian cricketers sent a strong message to the world that the young brigade will take the team to greater heights.
In 2016, India thrashed the West Indies 2-0 in their own backyard, with Ravichandran Ashwin spinning a web around the West Indians. New Zealand toured India and were thrashed 3-0. India closed out the year with yet another emphatic 4-0 win over England in the five-match Test series.
The year 2017 saw a closely fought Test series being played between India and Australia, with both the teams sharing the honours. India closed out the year with a 1-0 victory over Sri Lanka at home. India started 2018 with a tough tour of South Africa, with the hosts winning the series by a 2-1 margin. India then created history by beating Australia 2-1 in their own backyard for the first time in Tests.
India then thrashed South Africa 3-0 at home, and the decade ended with India featuring in their first-ever day-night Test at the iconic Eden Gardens. India thrashed Bangladesh in the Test by an innings and 46 runs, thus stamping their authority as the premier Test side in the world.
This decade also saw the retirements of several Indian batting legends including the likes of Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag and the incomparable Sachin Tendulkar.
However, the biggest success story of this decade has been the rise of Virat Kohli as a batsman and as the captain of the Indian team. Kohli has scored runs by the bucketful, and has also transformed India into the most dominant Test side in the world today.
In this article, let us look at five Indian batsmen who have scored the most runs in Tests played in this decade.
#5 Sachin Tendulkar
At No.5 comes perhaps the greatest Indian Test batsman ever, Sachin Tendulkar. The Master Blaster holds almost every major batting record in Tests, including that for the most runs(15921), most hundreds(51) and most fifties(68), just to name a few. Tendulkar played 38 Tests for India in this decade and scored 2951 runs, including 8 hundreds and 14 fifties, at an average of 50.01.
The legendary batsman started the decade by scoring two hundreds against Bangladesh and continued his purple patch by scoring two more hundreds in the Test series against South Africa at home. The Little Master then scored a stunning 203 against Sri Lanka at Colombo, and followed it up with another double century against Australia in the subsequent series. He ended 2010 by notching up his historic 50th Test century against South Africa at Centurion.
Tendulkar scored another classic 146 in the subsequent Test, the 51st and the last of his illustrious career. The iconic batsman could not score another Test century until his retirement two years later. Tendulkar retired from Test cricket in November 2013, after playing an unprecedented 200th Test for India. The legendary batsman scored a fluent 74 in his final innings for his side and walked away into the sunset in front of his adoring home fans in Mumbai.
Record this decade: Innings:64 | Runs:2951 | Average:50.01 | 100s:8 | 50s:14