Top 5: Most Fifties in Test Cricket

The record for the most Test hundreds and fifties is held by Sachin Tendulkar, but other than him, there are a few more batters who dominated with their bat in the toughest format of the game. 

In this article, we will talk about the top 5 batters with the most fifties in Test cricket.

5. Allan Border (Australia): 63

Former Australian captain Allan Border scored 63 half-centuries in his Test career of 156 matches. He scored a total of 11174 runs at an average of 50 and hit 27 hundreds. As captain, Border hit 36 fifties from 93 matches and 24 fifties as a player in 53 matches.

England was his favourite opponent. Against them, Border hit 21 half-centuries, out of which 12 were scored in England and 9 in Australia. The left-handed batter also found success in Asia, where he hit 8 fifties from 22 matches.

4. Rahul Dravid (India): 63

“Wall of Indian Cricket” Rahul Dravid scored 63 half-centuries in his Test career for India from 162 Tests. The right-hander scored 13 fifties each against the West Indies and Australia.

Dravid scored more than 11000 runs and 53 fifties. Dravid, in his career, struggled in the South African conditions where he managed to hit only 2 half-centuries, while he loved batting in the Caribbean, where he scored 11 half-centuries.

3. Joe Root (England): 64

Joe Root in his ongoing career has surpassed the number of half-centuries of Allan Border and Rahul Dravid in fewer Tests than both of them.

Root, who has scored over 12000 runs in his Test career, was consistently scoring half-centuries in 2014, 2015, and 2016 while failing to convert his fifties into the three-figure mark. The right-hander scored 10 fifties each in 2014 and 2015 and 8 fifties in 2016.

Root made his debut against India in 2012 and has scored 11 fifties against them and also registered 18 half-centuries against Australia. He also captained England from 2017 to 2022 for 64 matches, where he scored 26 fifties.

Also Read | Top 5: Most Runs as Captain in a Calendar Year in Test Cricket

2. Shivnarine Chanderpaul (West Indies): 66

Former Caribbean batter Shivnarine Chanderpaul scored 66 fifties in his Test career, which was expanded over 2 decades. He represented the West Indies in 164 Tests, scoring 11867 runs at an average of over 50, including 30 centuries.

The left-hander enjoyed batting the most against the English team, scoring 16 fifties against them and second most against India (10). Shiv was a reliable middle-order batter for the West Indies, who scored a total of 9361 runs with the help of 26 tons and 51 half-centuries while batting at numbers 5 and 6 for them.

1. Sachin Tendulkar (India): 68

Former Indian batter Sachin Tendulkar scored 68 half-centuries in his long Test career of 200 matches. The right-hander scored 16 half-centuries against Australia, which is his highest number of fifties scored against a Test-playing nation.

Sachin scored more fifties in away Tests than home Tests, scoring 36 fifties from 106 away Tests and 32 fifties from 94 home Tests.

Batting at number 4, Sachin scored 58 half-centuries for India. He also led the team in 25 Tests, scoring 7 fifties while scoring 61 as a player.