Playing Test cricket is a matter of pride for players. Not many get the opportunity to wear the whites.
And those who get the honour make the opportunity count with their talent, sweat, and perseverance. So when a player reaches a particular landmark, it gives them a sense of accomplishment.
Scoring 13,000 Test runs is one milestone that many have dreamt of achieving, but only five have managed to do so.
This article will list the five fastest batters to score 13,000 Test runs (by innings).
5. Joe Root (England) | 279 Innings (2025)
Joe Root is the latest entrant to achieve the 13,000-Test run milestone. The former England captain is eclipsing milestones one after another.
Root scored his 13,000th run in his 279th Test innings. With that, he also became the first Englishman to cross the landmark.
What’s fascinating is Root has taken the least time to attain this feat among the batters present on this list. He took 12 years and 160 days from his debut to get to the mark.
4. Rahul Dravid (India) | 277 Innings (2011)
Rahul Dravid was as solid as a wall with the bat for India. His sturdy run-making helped him complete 13,000 Test runs in 277 innings in 2011.
Dravid was a pure classical batter who knew how to bat longer and longer. It was almost impossible to breach his defence, as he grinded for hours and hours. And everyone rightfully called him ‘The Wall.’
Dravid had an almost 16-year stint in Test cricket, accumulating 13288 runs in 164 matches.
3. Ricky Ponting (Australia) | 275 Innings (2012)
Ricky Ponting bettered Dravid’s feat within two months. The former Australian skipper raced to his 13,000th Test run in 275 innings.
Overall, he was the third batter to get past the landmark in the format. Ponting showed a lot of grit to reach the milestone after 16 years of his Test debut.
He was a reliable top-order batter for Australia, scoring 13,378 runs and 41 centuries across 168 Tests.
Also Read | List: Australian Batters to Score 10000 Runs in Test Cricket
2. Jacques Kallis (South Africa) | 269 Innings (2013)
Almost a year later, Jacques Kallis edged past Ponting. In 2013, he became the fourth batter to score 13,000 Test runs. The South African all-rounder attained the milestone in his 269th innings after his Test journey started in late 1995.
In a career that spanned 18 years, Kallis established himself as a solid batter for South Africa. And he was more than a batter, often getting the breakthroughs with his medium pace.
Kallis aggregated 13,289 Test runs and picked up 292 wickets in 166 matches to sit among the greatest all-rounders.
1. Sachin Tendulkar (India) | 266 Innings (2010)
Sachin Tendulkar is present in pretty much every cricket record. He was the first-ever batter to reach the 13,000-run mark in Test cricket. And he did so back in 2010.
The Master Blaster needed 266 innings across 163 Tests to score his 13,000th Test run. It was a long grind of two decades to accomplish the feat.
Tendulkar then went on to achieve the 14,000- and 15,000-run milestones, which no other batter has attained thus far. He retired from red-ball cricket in 2013 with 15,921 runs under his belt.
Read Next | 5 Reasons Why Sachin Tendulkar is the GOAT
