Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin recently spoke to Cricinfo, where he was asked to name his top three Test batters of all time. “It is going to be hard, but I’m going to give you my top five first. It is going to be Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Virat Kohli, and VVS Laxman.”
The 39-year-old then added, “Going with these three: Tendulkar, Kohli, and Dravid.” Ashwin made his Test debut in 2011 and played with Rahul Dravid for a while before the batter retired in 2012. The off-spinner had become an integral part of the Indian side by the time Sachin Tendulkar decided to hang up his boots in 2013.
The ex-Chennai Super Kings player shared the dressing room with Virat Kohli for a long time and also played under him. He was a key player for Kohli with the ball, especially in Indian conditions in Test cricket. The player finally retired in 2024 from international cricket and also called time on his IPL career in 2025. He is currently set to captain and mentor Dublin Guardians in the inaugural edition of the European T20 Premier League, which kicks off on 26th August.
Sachin is at the top of the list with 15,921 runs from 200 games at an average of 53. He also hit 51 centuries and 68 fifties during the course of his 24-year-long career. Dravid is number two on the list with 13265 runs from 163 games at an average of 52, with 36 tons and 63 fifties.
Sunil Gavaskar is number three on the list with 10,122 runs and was the first man to reach the 10K mark in Test cricket. He scored 34 centuries and 45 fifties, ending his glorious career at an average of 51. Virat is at number four in the list, having scored 9230 runs from 123 matches with 30 centuries and 31 fifties, at an average of 46.
VVS Laxman, who is set to be named the new director of cricket, rounds off the top five list. The 51-year-old played 134 Tests, scoring 8781 runs at an average of 45, including 17 centuries and 56 half-centuries. His best of 281 came during the Kolkata Test against Australia, where the hosts went on to win after being asked to follow on.
