Here are the top ten Test batters of all time from Asia, according to the ICC's rating system.
10. Mahela Jayawardene
883 v India (2009)
One of Sri Lanka’s finest of all time, Jayawardene is the country’s second-highest run-scorer in Test cricket, with nearly 12,000 across a 17-year career. He also scored over 12,000 ODI runs. His Test peak came in 2009, after the following run: 79 & 2 vs Pakistan, 114 & 27 vs New Zealand, 92 & 96 vs New Zealand and 275 vs India.
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9. Javed Miandad
885 v New Zealand (1989)
For many, Miandad is the greatest batter Pakistan has ever produced, period. In the ICC rankings though, there is a compatriot above him. The majority of his career came in the 1980s, as Pakistan and West Indies emerged as the two dominant teams in world cricket. His ICC rating peak came at the end of that decade, after a knock of 271 against New Zealand, just shy of his career-best 280 not out, made six years earlier. Outside of Test cricket, he also scored over 20,000 first-class runs.
8. Gautam Gambhir
886 v Sri Lanka (2009)
Perhaps a strange entry. Gambhir is not really considered among India’s greats in Test cricket, but the highs he hit were more than productive enough to land him a spot here. His ascent to the peak rating was swift; at the start of October 2008, Gambhir’s ICC rating was 540 points. Fourteen months later, it was 886, thanks to a run of 10 matches which produced 1,551 runs at an average of 86.16 – including a three-Test tour of New Zealand where he averaged 89.
7. Cheteshwar Pujara
888 v Sri Lanka (2017)
Recently-retired, Pujara was the rock of India’s batting lineup for much of the 2010s. Never one for flashy or quick runs, it was a steady accumulation that took him to the peak rating of 888, twice in the same year against the same opposition. The calendar year of 2017 was a bumper time for Pujara – it was the only one where he scored over 1,000 runs, with 1,140 at 67.05.
6. Rahul Dravid
892 v Pakistan (2005)
Pujara’s predecessor at No.3 for India slots in right above him on this list as well. Stylistically similar as well, Dravid was part of a formidable Indian batting unit in the 2000s, alongside Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag. His 13,288 runs are the fifth-most ever, and Dravid’s peak came after twin centuries (110 & 135) against Pakistan at Eden Gardens.
5. Sachin Tendulkar
898 v Zimbabwe (2002)
The highest run-scorer of all-time, Tendulkar’s Test career saw him accomplish several batting feats, running alongside his ODI greatness. He fell just shy of the 900-point mark, widely considered a mark of excellence in the ICC rating system. His 176 against Zimbabwe in 2002 lifted him to the mark of 898, and that knock also helped him regain top spot in the rankings, having lost it after being at the summit for much of 2001.
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4. Sunil Gavaskar
916 v England (1979)
India’s original ‘Little Master’, Gavaskar is still perhaps the country’s greatest-ever opener in Test cricket. He was the first player ever to score 10,000 Test runs, and Dravid and Tendulkar are the only Indians to have done so since. Gavaskar’s 50th Test saw him achieve his peak rating. In September 1979, his fourth-innings 221 nearly helped India chase down a massive 438 at The Oval. They finished on 429-8, and the match was drawn. Between December 1978 and February 1980, he was the No.1-ranked Test batter in the world.
3. Mohammad Yousuf
933 v West Indies (2006)
Perhaps underrated outside Pakistan, Mohammad Yousuf certainly had a fulfilling Test career. At 12 years, it was relatively short compared to a few others on this list, but it was enough time for him to score over 7,500 runs and average over 50. The year2006 was his annus mirabilis; his 1,788 runs remain the most by anyone in a single calendar year. His 102 & 124 against the West Indies that December lifted him to his peak rating.
2. Virat Kohli
937 v England (2018)
A late career slump saw Kohli retire in 2025 with an average closer to 45 than 50, and a career tally of 9,230 runs. Those missed milestones notwithstanding, the highs of his career were remarkable. Between January 2018 and September 2019, Kohli maintained a batting rating over 900 points, and his peak came during a stellar tour of England in 2018; a personally significant one after his struggles there in 2014. Unsurprisingly, Kohli was the world’s No.1-ranked batter for much of this period.
1. Kumar Sangakkara
938 v England (2007)
Just one point ahead of Kohli, Sangakkara slots in at No.1 among Asian batters. Sri Lanka’s top run-scorer of all time, he was part of a formidable middle-order duo in the 2000s, alongside Jayawardene. He finished with a Test average of 57.4, the fifth-highest of all time with a cut-off of 6,000 runs. It was an incredible run in the back half of 2007 that pushed him to his peak; 200* vs Bangladesh, 222* vs Bangladesh, 57 & 192 vs Australia and 92 & 152 vs England.
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