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1. Brian Lara
Brian Lara is arguably one of the greatest cricketers from the West Indies to have played the game. He is one of the very few players who have scaled the double of 10000 runs in both ODI and Test cricket. He amassed 10405 runs in ODI cricket and was excellent. But Lara in Test cricket was on a whole other level. The former West Indies skipper was simply outstanding and had the ability to get huge scores. In Test cricket, he aggregated 11953 runs and was the first man from the West Indies to scale 10000 runs in the longest format. He got to the mark in 195 innings and was just the third batsman in world cricket to reach the milestone. Lara went on to become the second batsman to scale 11000 runs in Test cricket.
2. Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar is regarded as arguably one of the most complete and best batsmen to have ever stepped foot on a cricket field. There are hardly any batting records that do not have Sachin Tendulkar’s name in them. Be it runs, hundreds, fifties, the list can go on and on. He is the only man on this planet to amass more than 15000 runs in both Tests and ODIs. In Test cricket, he accumulated a staggering 15921 runs which included a record 51 tons. He got to the 10000-run milestone in 2005 (almost a year after Lara) and reached it in the same number of innings as Lara – 195.
3. Kumar Sangakkarap>Here is another player who accomplished the 10000-run feat in 195 innings. When Kumar Sangakkara went past 10000 Test runs, he became only the second Sri Lankan to do so. However, he was the fastest as it took him 15 innings lesser than Mahela Jayawardene. Sangakkara has been one of the legends of Sri Lankan cricket and was the heart of the batting lineup during his playing days. The left-handed batsman scored 12400 runs in his Test career at a stunning average of 57.40. He may have been the joint-fastest to 10000 runs in Test cricket but he was the fastest to 11000 and 12000 runs. 4. Ricky Pontingp>Ricky Ponting is the only Australian in the history of the game to have made more than 13000 runs in both formats – Tests and ODIs. The former Australian skipper was a prolific run-getter and his ability to rack up big scores was simply magnificent. He registered 41 hundreds and scored 13378 runs in Test cricket. Once Ponting got going, it was tough to stop him. When Ponting crossed the 10000-run mark in Test cricket, he became the third Australian to do so after Allan Border and Steve Waugh. However, he was the quickest among the three and got there in 196 innings – one innings more than the world record of 195 innings.5. Rahul Dravid
Rahul Dravid was one player who could play any role the team needed him to. In Test cricket, he was the rock and ‘The Wall’ for India at No. 3. He had the ability to bat for hours and days together and yet, he wouldn’t be tired. The Karnataka batsman could stonewall, blunt out and tire even the best of bowling attacks, shielding the middle order from getting exposed too early. Dravid scaled a mountain of runs in Test cricket, 13288 runs to be precise. He went past the 10000-run feat in 2008 and became the third Indian to achieve the goal. The No. 3 batsman was the second-fastest Indian as he got there in 206 innings.
