Year-ender 2025: Ranking the top five Test batters who dominated the format with runs, consistency, and match-winning knocks.
Test cricket in 2025 was defined by transition and triumph. South Africa crowned a historic campaign by defeating Australia to lift the World Test Championship. At the same time, the format also bid farewell to some of its modern greats, including India’s Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, and Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews. As the calendar turns, we look back at the five Test batters who stood tallest over the year.
Shubman Gill (India)
Following the retirement of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli from the five-day format, the responsibility of leading India’s Test side was handed to a young Shubman Gill – a batter still navigating his own challenges in the longest format. Yet Gill responded with composure and resolve, growing into the dual role of a leader and run scorer. He not only displayed maturity with the bat but also showed tactical clarity as captain, guiding India to a stirring come-from-behind 2-2 series draw in England – a result that underlined his character and hinted at the dawn of a new Test era for India.
Gill was named the Player of the Series as he scored 754 runs at an average of 75.40 in five Tests. He cracked four centuries, including a knock of 269 in Birmingham. He ended the year as the highest run-getter in this format for the year with 983 runs at 70.21 with five tons and one fifty in nine Tests.
What was commendable about Gill’s performance in Tests this year was that the batter overcame his own indifferent form in this format to emerge India’s new No 4 batter. His Test average before the England series was in the 30s, but it jumped to 40-plus post the series.
Read More: Year in Review 2025: Statistical Highs & Lows for India in Tests
Joe Root (England)
The England batter has become better with age. He has been silently accumulating runs in this format for years, but the year 2025 saw Root stand out with his consistency and intent to score at a fast clip. And thus, not only surviving but flourishing in the Bazball era. He emerged as the top English batter this year, scoring 805 runs at 50.31 with four tons and one fifty. He also crossed 13,000 Test runs during the year, and is now threatening Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 15,921 runs. Besides, Joe Root also broke the Ashes jinx and scored his first century in Australia.
Read More: Joe Root gets his first Test century in Australia
Travis Head (Australia)
The Aussie batter thrives on challenges. After having batted in the middle-order throughout his Test career, he grabbed an opportunity to open the innings with both hands. In the Perth Test against England, an injury to regular opener Usman Khawaja saw Travis Head stepping up to open in the second innings, to chase 205 for a win on a fast, bouncy wicket. Head unleashed a ruthless counter-attacking innings of 83-ball 123 with 16 fours and 4 sixes at a strike rate of 148.18 to wrap up the chase in less than 30 overs.
The knock was not a flash in the pan, as Head produced another master-class knock of 170 off 219 balls with 16 fours and 2 sixes in Adelaide to help Australia post a match-winning target, and seal the Ashes in the third Test itself. Head’s exploits in the Ashes saw him jump to the second spot in the top run-getters in 2025, with 817 runs at an average of 40.85 with 2 tons and 3 fifties.
Read More: Travis Head’s 123 (83) helps Aus win Perth Test; Is this the best Ashes hundred in a chasing cause?
Ravindra Jadeja (India)
As India looked like a Test team in transition post the retirement of key players, experienced Ravindra Jadeja raised his hands to hold the innings together in the middle-lower order. He was a revelation in Test cricket in 2025, both home and away. He scored 764 runs at an average of 63.66 with 2 tons and 6 fifties in 10 Tests.
He scored 516 runs at an average of 86 with 1 ton and 5 fifties in the England series. His 107* and unbeaten stand of 203 runs with Washington Sundar for the fifth wicket in Manchester saw India draw a memorable Test and keep the series alive. He also struck 104 not against West Indies in the Ahmedabad Test.
Read More: Ben Stokes or Ravindra Jadeja: Who is the better Test all-rounder?
KL Rahul (India)
Post the retirement of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul was given the permanent opening slot in Test cricket. Till then, he batted lower down the order and even kept wickets to add batting depth to the XI. But once Rahul was back as an opener, he played orthodox cricket that brought him success this year as a Test batter. He left as many balls as possible outside off-stump and played close to the body.
He chose to play the waiting game rather than playing risky shots to score runs. His shot selection was excellent, and it once brought memories of Test cricket of old when grinding out the new ball was the norm. His sound technique as an opener saw him emerge the third-highest run-getter in Test cricket in 2025, with 813 runs at an average of 45.16 with 3 tons and 3 fifties. He scored 2 tons in England, including a brilliant 100 at Lord’s.
Read More: Why 2025 has been a year of redemption for KL Rahul in Tests: A numerical analysis
