Top 10 most destructive batsmen in Test cricket's history
Since its inception, the game of cricket has undergone many changes. Test cricket for a long time was played in the conventional manner following all the coaching manuals. Playing straight was the usual norm and horizontal bat shots weren’t given much admiration.
With the onset of ODI cricket which was more bustling and fast-paced, the longer format also underwent a sea change. Batsman brought in an attacking dimension to their stroke play. Sessions were just not played out but contested with an intent to win. Boring draws were no longer the status quo and teams pushed the limits to force a result. Batting averages alone weren’t a yardstick to measure a batsman's success. Strike rate was also looked upon in gauging the effectiveness of a batsman. Down the years, we had some explosive batsman in ODIs, but there have been some belligerent stroke-players who won many hearts with their aggressive style of batting in white ball cricket.
It would be interesting to compile a list of the top 10 most destructive batsman in Test cricket.
For selecting my top 10, I have considered consistency at run scoring, longevity in career and strike rate as my parameters.
I have taken only those batsman who have played at least 50 Tests for their country and scored over 5000 runs.
Before we rank our top 10 Test batsman based on their ability to score runs quickly on a consistent basis, a look at some of the premier batsmen who went about their run scoring in a free-flowing manner in Test cricket
India - Kapil Dev (80.91), MS Dhoni (59.11), Shikhar Dhawan (68) , Virat Kohli (58.26)
England - Ian Botham (60.71), Andrew Flintoff (62.04), Ben Stokes (61.04), Matt Prior (61.66)
Australia - David Warner (74.5), Don Bradman (58.6)
South Africa - Quinton De Cock (70.3), Graeme Smith (59.67)
Pakistan - Sarfaraz Ahmed (71.87), Kamran Akmal (63.1)
New Zealand - Ross Taylor (59.35)
Sri Lanka - Tillakaratne Dilshan (65.54)
West Indies - Clive Lloyd (57.77)
#10 Chris Gayle
The self-proclaimed 'Universal Boss' of T20 cricket has also been a destructive batsman in Test cricket. The West Indian powerhouse has played some absolute blinders in the longer format. Neither conventional nor very pleasing to the eye, Gayle had a technique of his own to plunder bowling attacks.
Being in and out of the Windies Test side, Gayle boasts of a pretty impressive Test record with over 7000 Test runs at a 40 plus average. With two triple tons to his name, Gayle joined a select band of greats like Don Bradman, Brian Lara, and Virender Sehwag to have accomplished the feat.
Test Record
Matches: 103 | Runs: 7214 | Avg: 42.18 | SR: 60.26