Star India batsman Sachin Tendulkar currently holds the record for scoring most runs in the TEST. Sachin Tendulkar tops the table with 15,921 runs as he has amassed in 200 TEST matches (329 innings) till date in the shortest format of the game at international level. The India batter has slammed 51 Century and 68 fifties in the TEST and aggregated runs consistently at a healthy average of 53.79.
Sachin Tendulkar is followed by Joe Root and the charismatic England cricketer has scored 13,943 runs in 163 TEST matches and averages 51.07.
Till date, a total of 15 players have scored 10000-plus runs in the TEST. The toppers in the list comprise of players from India, England, Australia, and Sri Lanka.
(Jacques Kallis - 13,289 runs in 166 TEST matches, Rahul Dravid - 13,288 runs in 164 TEST matches, Alastair Cook - 12,472 runs in 161 TEST matches, Brian Lara - 11,953 runs in 131 TEST matches, Shivnarine Chanderpaul - 11,867 runs in 164 TEST matches, Mahela Jayawardene - 11,814 runs in 149 TEST matches, Steve Waugh - 10,927 runs in 168 TEST matches and Younis Khan - 10,099 runs in 118 TEST matches)Three players from Australia (Ricky Ponting - 13,378 runs in 168 TEST matches, Allan Border - 11,174 runs in 156 TEST matches and Steve Smith - 10,763 runs in 123 TEST matches) feature in the list.
Two cricketers from India (Sachin Tendulkar - 15,921 runs in 200 TEST matches and Sunil Gavaskar - 10,122 runs in 125 TEST matches) present in the highest run-getters in the TEST.
One cricketer each from England (Joe Root - 13,943 runs in 163 TEST matches) and Sri Lanka (Kumar Sangakkara - 12,400 runs in 134 TEST matches) are also in the top 10000- plus runs.
Here is the list of all Most Runs in Test history:
| # | Player | Mat | Inn | Runs | HS | 100s | 50s | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sachin Tendulkar India | 200 | 329 | 15,921 | 248* | 51 | 68 | 53.79 |
| 2 | Joe Root England | 163 | 298 | 13,943 | 262 | 41 | 66 | 51.07 |
| 3 | Ricky Ponting Australia | 168 | 287 | 13,378 | 257 | 41 | 62 | 51.85 |
| 4 | Jacques Kallis | 166 | 280 | 13,289 | 224 | 45 | 58 | 55.37 |
| 5 | Rahul Dravid | 164 | 286 | 13,288 | 270 | 36 | 63 | 52.31 |
| 6 | Alastair Cook | 161 | 291 | 12,472 | 294 | 33 | 57 | 45.35 |
| 7 | Kumar Sangakkara Sri Lanka | 134 | 233 | 12,400 | 319 | 38 | 52 | 57.41 |
| 8 | Brian Lara | 131 | 232 | 11,953 | 400* | 34 | 48 | 52.89 |
| 9 | Shivnarine Chanderpaul | 164 | 280 | 11,867 | 203* | 30 | 66 | 51.37 |
| 10 | Mahela Jayawardene | 149 | 252 | 11,814 | 374 | 34 | 50 | 49.85 |
| 11 | Allan Border Australia | 156 | 265 | 11,174 | 205 | 27 | 63 | 50.56 |
| 12 | Steve Waugh | 168 | 260 | 10,927 | 200 | 32 | 50 | 51.06 |
| 13 | Steve Smith Australia | 123 | 220 | 10,763 | 239 | 37 | 44 | 56.06 |
| 14 | Sunil Gavaskar India | 125 | 214 | 10,122 | 236* | 34 | 45 | 51.12 |
| 15 | Younis Khan | 118 | 213 | 10,099 | 313 | 34 | 33 | 52.06 |
| 16 | Kane Williamson New Zealand | 108 | 192 | 9,461 | 251 | 33 | 38 | 54.69 |
| 17 | Hashim Amla South Africa | 124 | 215 | 9,282 | 311* | 28 | 41 | 46.64 |
| 18 | Graeme Smith South Africa | 117 | 205 | 9,265 | 277 | 27 | 38 | 48.26 |
| 19 | Virat Kohli India | 123 | 210 | 9,230 | 254* | 30 | 31 | 46.85 |
| 20 | Graham Gooch England | 118 | 215 | 8,900 | 333 | 20 | 46 | 42.58 |
| 21 | Javed Miandad Pakistan | 124 | 189 | 8,832 | 280* | 23 | 43 | 52.57 |
| 22 | Inzamam-ul-Haq Pakistan | 120 | 200 | 8,830 | 329 | 25 | 46 | 49.61 |
| 23 | David Warner Australia | 112 | 205 | 8,786 | 335* | 26 | 37 | 44.6 |
| 24 | VVS Laxman | 134 | 225 | 8,781 | 281 | 17 | 56 | 45.97 |
| 25 | AB de Villiers | 114 | 191 | 8,765 | 278* | 22 | 46 | 50.66 |
| 26 | Michael Clarke Australia | 115 | 198 | 8,643 | 329* | 28 | 27 | 49.11 |
| 27 | Matthew Hayden | 103 | 184 | 8,625 | 380 | 30 | 29 | 50.74 |
| 28 | Virender Sehwag | 104 | 180 | 8,586 | 319 | 23 | 32 | 49.34 |
| 29 | Vivian Richards West Indies | 121 | 182 | 8,540 | 291 | 24 | 45 | 50.24 |
| 30 | Alec Stewart England | 133 | 235 | 8,463 | 190 | 15 | 45 | 39.55 |
| 31 | David Gower England | 117 | 204 | 8,231 | 215 | 18 | 39 | 44.25 |
| 32 | Angelo Mathews Sri Lanka | 119 | 212 | 8,214 | 200* | 16 | 45 | 44.4 |
| 33 | Kevin Pietersen England | 104 | 181 | 8,181 | 227 | 23 | 35 | 47.29 |
| 34 | Geoff Boycott England | 108 | 193 | 8,114 | 246* | 22 | 42 | 47.73 |
| 35 | Sir Garry Sobers West Indies | 93 | 160 | 8,032 | 365* | 26 | 30 | 57.78 |
| 36 | Mark Waugh | 128 | 209 | 8,029 | 153* | 20 | 47 | 41.82 |
| 37 | Michael Atherton England | 115 | 212 | 7,728 | 185* | 16 | 46 | 37.7 |
| 38 | Ian Bell England | 118 | 205 | 7,727 | 235 | 22 | 46 | 42.69 |
| 39 | Justin Langer | 105 | 182 | 7,696 | 250 | 23 | 30 | 45.27 |
| 40 | Ross Taylor New Zealand | 112 | 196 | 7,683 | 290 | 19 | 35 | 44.67 |
| 41 | Colin Cowdrey England | 114 | 188 | 7,624 | 182 | 22 | 38 | 44.07 |
| 42 | Gordon Greenidge West Indies | 108 | 185 | 7,558 | 226 | 19 | 34 | 44.72 |
| 43 | Mohammad Yousuf | 90 | 156 | 7,530 | 223 | 24 | 33 | 52.29 |
| 44 | Mark Taylor Australia | 104 | 186 | 7,525 | 334* | 19 | 40 | 43.5 |
| 45 | Clive Lloyd West Indies | 110 | 175 | 7,515 | 242* | 19 | 39 | 46.68 |
| 46 | Desmond Haynes West Indies | 116 | 202 | 7,487 | 184 | 18 | 39 | 42.3 |
| 47 | David Boon Australia | 107 | 190 | 7,422 | 200 | 21 | 32 | 43.66 |
| 48 | Gary Kirsten | 101 | 176 | 7,289 | 275 | 21 | 34 | 45.27 |
| 49 | Wally Hammond England | 85 | 140 | 7,249 | 336* | 22 | 24 | 58.46 |
| 50 | Dimuth Karunaratne Sri Lanka | 100 | 191 | 7,222 | 244 | 16 | 39 | 39.25 |
| 51 | Ben Stokes England | 120 | 216 | 7,216 | 258 | 14 | 37 | 34.86 |
| 52 | Chris Gayle | 103 | 182 | 7,214 | 333 | 15 | 37 | 42.19 |
| 53 | Sourav Ganguly India | 113 | 188 | 7,212 | 239 | 16 | 35 | 42.18 |
| 54 | Cheteshwar Pujara India | 103 | 176 | 7,195 | 206* | 19 | 35 | 43.61 |
| 55 | Stephen Fleming | 111 | 189 | 7,172 | 274* | 9 | 46 | 40.07 |
| 56 | Azhar Ali Pakistan | 97 | 180 | 7,142 | 302* | 19 | 35 | 42.26 |
| 57 | Greg Chappell Australia | 87 | 151 | 7,110 | 247* | 24 | 31 | 53.86 |
| 58 | Andrew Strauss | 100 | 178 | 7,037 | 177 | 21 | 27 | 40.91 |
| 59 | Don Bradman Australia | 52 | 80 | 6,996 | 334 | 29 | 13 | 99.94 |
| 60 | Sanath Jayasuriya | 110 | 188 | 6,973 | 340 | 14 | 31 | 40.07 |
| 61 | Sir Leonard Hutton England | 79 | 138 | 6,971 | 364 | 19 | 33 | 56.67 |
| 62 | Dilip Vengsarkar India | 116 | 185 | 6,868 | 166 | 17 | 35 | 42.13 |
| 63 | Ken Barrington England | 82 | 131 | 6,806 | 256 | 20 | 35 | 58.67 |
| 64 | Graham Thorpe | 100 | 179 | 6,744 | 200* | 16 | 39 | 44.66 |
| 65 | Mushfiqur Rahim Bangladesh | 102 | 187 | 6,626 | 219* | 13 | 29 | 38.75 |
| 66 | Brendon McCullum New Zealand | 101 | 176 | 6,453 | 302 | 12 | 31 | 38.64 |
| 67 | Aravinda De Silva Sri Lanka | 93 | 159 | 6,361 | 267 | 20 | 22 | 42.98 |
| 68 | Dinesh Chandimal Sri Lanka | 90 | 161 | 6,361 | 206* | 16 | 34 | 43.57 |
| 69 | Tom Latham New Zealand | 91 | 164 | 6,261 | 264* | 16 | 31 | 39.63 |
| 70 | Michael Hussey Australia | 79 | 137 | 6,235 | 195 | 19 | 29 | 51.53 |
| 71 | Usman Khawaja Australia | 88 | 159 | 6,229 | 232 | 16 | 28 | 42.96 |
| 72 | Rohan Kanhai West Indies | 79 | 137 | 6,227 | 256 | 15 | 28 | 47.53 |
| 73 | Mohammad Azharuddin | 99 | 147 | 6,215 | 199 | 22 | 21 | 45.04 |
| 74 | Herschelle Gibbs | 90 | 154 | 6,167 | 228 | 14 | 26 | 41.95 |
| 75 | Neil Harvey Australia | 79 | 137 | 6,149 | 205 | 21 | 24 | 48.42 |