Test cricket is considered the most classical form of cricket. With virtues like dedication, patience, and the ability to leave the temptation of ball smashing are a must need in this format.
For a game that stretches over 5 days, there comes a moment when the batters have to take the attack to the blowers. In such situations they have to throw their bat around and score some quick fire runs. But not every batter is capable of scoring fast runs in test cricket.
Fast scoring often comes with the risk of getting out. And hence, you have to be a specialist in that. That is why, in this article we will present you with some of the specialist batters with the highest strike rate in Test cricket.
Players with Highest Strike Rate in Test Cricket
| Total runs | Country | Innings | Total runs | Strike Rate | Highest score | Avg. |
| 1. Shaheed Afridi | Pakistan | 48 | 1716 | 86.97 | 156 | 36.51 |
| 2. Tim Southee | New Zealand | 67 | 1081 | 86.54 | 77* | 17.72 |
| 3. Virender Sehwag | India | 180 | 8586 | 82.23 | 319 | 49.34 |
| 4. Adam Gilchrist | Australia | 137 | 5570 | 81.95 | 204* | 47.60 |
| 5. Graeme Swann | South Africa | 76 | 1370 | 76.49 | 85 | 22.09 |
| 6. David Warner | Australia | 72 | 3231 | 74.37 | 180 | 46.82 |
| 7. Muttiah Muralitharan | Sri Lanka | 164 | 1261 | 70.28 | 67 | 11.67 |
| 8. Darren Sammy | West Indies | 63 | 1323 | 67.88 | 106 | 21.68 |
| 9. Stuart Broad | England | 112 | 2285 | 67.00 | 169 | 23.08 |
| 10. Umar Akmal | Pakistan | 30 | 1003 | 65.98 | 129 | 35.82 |
Overview of Players with highest strike rate in tests
- Shahid Afridi
He has always been renowned as the most explosive batter in cricket, irrespective of the format. Shahid Afridi was one of those batters whose mere presence put a pressure on the bowlers. And as a result, he fed off them and scored magnanimous runs at an alarming rate in test cricket. He was even named as “Boom Boom” for his explosive batting and holds the record for highest strike rate in test cricket.
2. Tim Southee
This list has a lot of surprising names, and one of them is the Kiwi Bowler Tim Southee, who surprisingly has the second highest strike rate in test cricket with the bat in hand. The Current New Zealand skipper has several accolades with the ball in hand, but he must be cherishing this unique feat with the bat in hand as well.
3. Virendera Sehwag
If you are a 90’s kid, or someone following the game since the early 2000s, then you already know that they don’t make them like Sehwag anymore. The Indian opener was one of the most destructive, and fearsome opening batter ever to have played the game.
He, like Afridi, was known to breed fear in the bowlers, and then feed off it as well. As a result, he has most runs in this top 10 list with highest strike rate in test cricket.
4. Adam Gilchrist
The wicketkeeper batter of Australia, Adam Gilchrist was a different thing when it came to batting in the test cricket. Normally an opener, Gilchrist was forced to bat down the order, due to his keeping responsibilities. And hence he was used to coming into the game when his striking abilities were required to be displayed. The Keeper seldom held back, and hence finds his name on the list of batter wish highest strike rate in test cricket.
