After the commotion and fast-paced nature of the IPL and team India’s T20 commitments, the attention temporarily turns to the longest format as the Men in Blue take on England in the rescheduled fifth Test match at Edgbaston. While Test cricket has become a bowler’s paradise in the last few years, there are still plenty of outstanding batters who have shone in whites in recent times, and here are our top ten batters in Test cricket in 2022.
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Rishabh Pant may be a bit inconsistent as a Test batter, but the wicketkeeper has averaged 54 in Tests in 2022 and has the highest strike rate (70) in white-ball cricket since 2020 amongst those who have faced a minimum of 1000 deliveries.
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Devon Conway has taken to Test cricket like a duck to water since his debut in 2021, and the left-hander played a crucial role for the Kiwis in their ICC World Test Championship victory over India last summer. Conway has three centuries in 16 innings in Test cricket and the highest average (55.06) amongst those who have played at least 1500 balls in whites since his debut.
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Dimuth Karunaratne has scored the second-most centuries (5) and third-most runs (1347) in Test cricket since 2020 and the Sri Lankan skipper is only one of two openers in the top ten of ICC’s batter rankings.
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Rohit Sharma has averaged an incredible 55 in Test cricket since becoming an opener in 2019, and the Indian captain has played some stellar knocks in whites in the Men in Blue’s recent landmark victories in Chennai, Lord’s and at The Oval.
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Virat Kohli is averaging just 28 in Test matches since 2020 and hasn’t scored a century in red-ball cricket since October 2019, but the former Indian captain still makes it to number six on our list due to the totality of his resume. Although Kohli is past his prime as a batter, the 33-year-old still averages 49.8 in Test cricket for his career and has played various pivotal knocks for the Men in Blue in challenging conditions in red-ball cricket over the past two years.
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Kane Williamson’s performances in all formats have dropped off since his tennis elbow injury at the start of 2022, but the Kiwi captain has the highest Test batting average (65) since 2020 amongst those who have faced a minimum of 1,500 deliveries.
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Although there are some valid question marks about his performances away from home, Marnus Labuschagne has had an unbelievable start to his Test career for Australia with an average of 54 after 44 innings in red ball cricket.
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Babar Azam has established himself as one of the best all-format batters in the world over the last few years, and the Pakistan captain has averaged 52 in Tests since 2020 (24 innings).
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Although Smith has scored just one century and averaged just 42 in Test cricket in his last 21 innings, the Australian is still one of the top three batters against the red ball in 2022. The Australian vice-captain has succeeded in all conditions in Test cricket and still has the best Test average (59) amongst all active players.
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Joe Root is batting on a different planet right now in Tests and is by far and away the best batter in red-ball cricket. The former English captain has scored 2,800 Test runs and ten centuries since 2020, nearly double the amount as the next best batter on the list – Ben Stokes: 1,450 runs.
[Featured Image Credit: ANI]
Shivaan Shah