Five Cricketers Who Can Cross 10000 Runs In Test Cricket

There is a reason why Test cricket is the hardest format of the game. That is because no other format of the game challenges a cricketer like Test cricket does. It tests their patience, perseverance, character and the ability to adapt to obscure conditions to the hilt. And, perhaps that is why runs or wickets in the five-day format are valued and celebrated more by both fans and pundits as compared to white-ball cricket.

When it comes to batting, there is no bigger bigger dream for any upcoming cricketer than to be a part of an elite group of batsmen who managed to scale Mount.10000. Little Master Sunil Gavaskar was the first batsman in the history of the game to cross the historic landmark and since then only 11 other cricketers have managed to join him.

This article aims at analyzing which of the modern-era batsmen could possibly breach the ten thousand run-mark.

Here’s a list of five cricketers who can cross 10000 runs in Test cricket:

5. David Warner

Now, this might come as a surprise to a plethora of readers. ‘Didn’t you see how he struggled against Stuart Broad in England or how he frequently struggles on the turning tracks of the subcontinent?’ It would be the first question that will be posed at me, I know!

And, you’re right! Warner did look horribly out of his depth against the Dukes in English conditions. He also struggles in the sub-continent. True! But, Warner is a different beast in Australian conditions. Since the start of 2010, no Australian batsman has scored more runs at home than Warner. In 75 innings, the southpaw has racked up 4484 runs at an average of 65.94 with the help of 18 hundred and 12 half-centuries.

Overall, in 84 Tests, Warner has 7244 runs to his name at an average of 48.95 with 24 hundred and two double tons and of-course a triple hundred. Warner is 33 years of age and he has already stated his desire to retire from one format of the game in order to prolong his Test career. With Australia playing at least 6-7 home Tests every year, the southpaw has a decent chance of scaling Mount. 10000.

Also Read: David Warner Reacts After Sunrisers Hyderabad Pledge Rs 10 Crore Towards Coronavirus Relief Fund

4. Kane Williamson

A no-brainer! He is cool, he is calm, he soaked up the pressure brilliantly and often brings out his best whenever New Zealand is in a spot of bother.

That Williamson will have a great future, was pretty evident from his debut series in India back in 2010 where he blunter the home sides’ attack with a patient 131 off 299 balls. He hasn’t looked back since then.

The 29-year-old has racked up 6476 runs in 80 Tests at an average of 50.99 with the help of 21 hundred and a couple of double tons. With so much time on his hands, something has to go incredibly wrong if the Kiwi captain fails to cross the 10,000 run mark by the time his career comes to a close.

3. Joe Root

Like Williamson, Joe Root too showed a glimpse of his precocious talent right from his very first Test. And, once again it was India who was at the receiving end.

Root made his debut in the fourth Test of England’s historic series win India back in 2012-13 and immediately established himself as the country’s future star with a patient hundred on a slow burner in Nagpur.

Joe Root is just 29-year-old and but the fact that England plays a lot more Tests than any other country, he has already featured in 92 five-day games in which he has racked up 7599 runs at an average of 48.09 with 17 hundred and three double-hundreds.

And, again just like Williamson, something has got to go incredibly wrong for the English Test captain to not breach the 10000-run mark.

2. Steven Smith

Unlike Joe Root and Kane Williamson, no one could have imagined when Steven Smith made his Test debut for Australia in 2010, that he would go on to become one of the leading batsmen in the world.

Smith recently revealed in an interview that he was one of the 12th or 13th spin-bowling options that Australia tried to post the retirement of Shane Warne. He was primarily selected as the spinner in his debut series against Pakistan and came in to bat at No.8 position.

Smith revealed that after getting dropped from the side he decided to focus more on his batting and results have been pretty outrageous ever since.

In 73 Tests, the former Australian captain has racked up 7227 runs at a jaw-dropping average of 62.84 which includes 26 hundred and three double-tons. He is currently the No.1 ranked Test batsman in the world and like Root and Williamson, it is a matter of when and not if he’ll get to 10,000 Test runs.

Also Read: Steve Smith Reveals That He Was The 12th Or 13th Spinner That Australia Tried After Shane Warne’s Retirement

1. Virat Kohli

He has already scaled the 10,000-run mark in One-day cricket and it is a matter of time before the Indian captain repeats the same in the format he so dearly loves- Test cricket.

Kohli was an established ODI cricketer when he made his Test debut against the West Indies in the summer of 2011. Unlike Joe Root and Kane Williamson, the Indian legend did not have the best of starts in the red-ball format as he struggled against the rising ball.

The matters escalated to the core when he failed to make the most of his opportunities in the first two Tests of the 2011-12 Australian tour. But, as we were to discover, adversity tends to bring out a beast in Virat. He scored a brilliant 75 in Perth and followed it up with his maiden hundred at the Adelaide Oval.

Two and a half years later, Kohli once again found himself at crossroads after his technique was exposed by the moving Dukes ball in England. But, once again Kohli responded to adversity with disdain. On the succeeding tour of Australia, the Indian captain scored in excess of 600 runs including twin tons in Adelaide to once again resurrect his Test career.

After four years of consistent performances, Kohli finally shrugged off his English demons of 2014 and went on to emerge as the leading run-getter from both sides, finishing with 593 runs across five Tests with the help of two hundred.

In 86 Tests, the 32-year-old has racked up 7240 runs at an average of 53.63 with 27 hundred and seven double-hundreds- the most among the ‘Fab-Four’.