Rating India's top 5 men's Test batters in 2022
2022 is in the history books as far as the Indian Test team is concerned. It was a memorable year for the Indian team as they recorded two whitewash series wins this year while also maintaining a win record of 100% in home Tests this year.
India started 2022 with two of the last three Test matches against South Africa away from home. The visitors had a 1-0 lead in the three-match series but lost the last two Tests as South Africa secured the series 2-1. After that, Sri Lanka toured India for a two-match series and lost 0-2.
India then visited England for the rescheduled fifth Test, where they lost under Jasprit Bumrah's captaincy and the series ended in a 2-2 draw. The Indian team ended 2022 with a 2-0 series win against Bangladesh away from home.
Several big names like Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, and KL Rahul failed to score a single Test hundred in 2022. None of these players even finished in the Top 5 of the Indian team's batting charts in Test cricket this year.
In this listicle now, we will list down the top five run-scorers for India in Tests this year and rate them.
#5 Ravichandran Ashwin - 8.5/10
Very few fans would have predicted Ravichandran Ashwin (265) to score more Test runs than KL Rahul (137) and Rohit Sharma (90) combined in 2022, but the Tamil Nadu all-rounder brought his 'A' game to the table in the batting department and ended the year as the team's fifth-highest run-getter.
He started the year with a 50-ball 46 in the New Year's Test against South Africa, followed by a match-winning 62 against Sri Lanka at home, and two match-winnings knocks of 58 and 42* in the home Test series against Bangladesh.
#4 Ravindra Jadeja - 9.5/10
2022 was probably Ravindra Jadeja's best year as a batter in Test cricket. The all-rounder scored 328 runs in just three matches at a brilliant average of 82. He smashed a 175-run knock against Sri Lanka and then scored another ton in the rescheduled Test against England.
Jadeja missed the series against Bangladesh owing to an injury. Otherwise, he could have ended the year with more than 400 runs.
#3 Cheteshwar Pujara - 8/10
Cheteshwar Pujara played five Tests in 2022, scoring 409 runs in 10 innings. He ended his drought of centuries with a spectacular 102-run knock against Bangladesh in Chattogram.
Pujara was the third-highest run-scorer in Test matches for the team this year, but 2022 was not the best year of his career.
#2 Shreyas Iyer - 9/10
Shreyas Iyer replaced Ajinkya Rahane in the middle-order and cemented his spot in the team with some fantastic performances. The right-handed batter ended 2022 as the nation's second-highest run-getter in Test cricket.
Iyer amassed 422 runs in eight innings, smashing four fifties. His only regret would be that he could score a Test hundred in 2022. It will be interesting to see how he performs in 2023.
#1 Rishabh Pant - 9.5/10
Rishabh Pant was the nation's top run-scorer in Tests this year. He aggregated 680 runs in seven Tests at a strike rate of 90.9, with an average of 61.81. The left-handed batter smashed a century each in South Africa and England.
Pant also played an important knock of 93 runs in the second Test against Bangladesh, which ensured that India ended 2022 on a winning note.