The Test series played between India and Australia are named as Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and you can find the reason behind the name here.
In addition to the list below, Sachin Tendulkar also tops the batting chart in all Test matches played between both these teams – 3630. He has batted 9 innings against the same opponent before it was called BGT. In fact, he is placed second in the overall list of players with most runs against Australia in the longest format; only 6 runs behind the list-topper, England’s Jack Hobbs (3636). Only Don Bran is above these two when it comes to the top ten run-getters in Tests against any single Test-playing nation.
Let’s get into the list of leading run-scorers in Border Gavaskar Trophy since its inception in 1996.
| PLAYERS | RUNS | INNINGS | AVERAGE | 100s | 50s | BEST SCORE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sachin Tendulkar | 3262 | 65 | 56.24 | 9 | 16 | 241* |
| Ricky Ponting | 2555 | 51 | 54.36 | 8 | 12 | 257 |
| VVS Laxman | 2434 | 54 | 49.67 | 6 | 12 | 281 |
| Steve Smith | 2201 | 44 | 57.92 | 10 | 5 | 192 |
| Rahul Dravid | 2143 | 60 | 39.68 | 2 | 13 | 233 |
| Virat Kohli | 2169 | 51 | 44.26 | 9 | 5 | 186 |
| Michael Clarke | 2049 | 40 | 53.92 | 7 | 6 | 329* |
| Cheteshwar Pujara | 2033 | 43 | 50.82 | 5 | 11 | 204 |
| Matthew Hayden | 1888 | 35 | 59.00 | 6 | 8 | 203 |
| Virender Sehwag | 1738 | 43 | 41.38 | 3 | 9 | 195 |
Key Stats
Incidentally, this is also the same top ten for the high-scorers list of IND vs AUS Test matches played ever. Allan Border, with 1567 runs, and Sunil Gavaskar, with 1550 runs, were the top run-getters in the matches between the sides before it was called the BGT series. Sachin is the only player in the above list to play in the pre and post-BGT naming period.
Cheteshwar Pujara, Steve Smith, and Virat Kohli are the three players who are among the current players to be part of this list.
Smith averages 72.58 in 28 Test innings he played against his Asian opponent and is miles ahead of the others in the list. He competes with Sachin in the century-scorers list in the clashes between the sides.
Michael Clarke’s unbeaten 329 in Sydney in 2012 is the only 300+ score in a BGT match and is rightly the highest individual score. India suffered an innings defeat in that match.
