Testing cricketers on strength, endurance, skills, consistency, and various other parameters, Test cricket stands true to its name in all senses. Besides, despite the emergence of the limited-overs format like One-day Internationals and T20 Internationals, Test cricket hasn’t lost its essence, as it is still regarded as the purest format of the game, which truly determines the capabilities of a cricketer.

While in the modern era cricket, more emphasis is laid on maintaining the strike-rate or having the ability of hitting the ball out of the park , there were times when the batting greats used to exhibit first-class patience and tremendous resilience to stay on the cricket pitch and produce innings that spanned beyond our wildest imaginations.

Top 5 batsmen who faced most balls in Test cricket history

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-442216" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Allan-Border.jpg" alt="Allan Border" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-442216" class="wp-caption-text">Allan Border. (Photo source: Getty Images)</figcaption>

Allan Border is widely renowned as the best captain to ever have led the <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/former-sri-lanka-cricketer-suraj-randiv-opts-bus-driving-profession-in-australia-to-make-ends-meet/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Australia</strong></a> cricket team and was responsible for transforming them into world beaters who were capable of taking down any opposition anywhere in the world. However, Border was an equally good batsmen who was known for his determination and grit.

In his glorious Test career of 17 years, that spanned from 1978 to 1994, Border faced a huge 27,002 deliveries and spent a whopping 35,639 minutes on the pitch. He also has amassed 11,174 runs in 156 Test matches at an average of 50.6.

In addition, Allan has 27 hundreds and 63 half-centuries to his name in the purest format of the game, with 205 runs being his highest score.

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-435934" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Shivnaraine-Chanderpaul.jpg" alt="Shivnarine Chanderpaul" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-435934" class="wp-caption-text">Shivnarine Chanderpaul (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption>

Considered as one of the greatest batsmen of his era, former <strong>West Indies</strong> captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul is the first Indo-Caribbean to play 100 Tests for the West Indies. The unsung hero of West Indies, Chanderpaul was grown to become the rock and holding force of a fragile West Indies batting line-up.

Since his Test debut against in March 1994 to his last Test match against the same opponents in May 2015, Shivnarine amassed a massive 11,896 runs in 164 Test games at an average of 51.4 and strike rate of 43.3. The right-arm leg spinner also has 9 wickets to his name in the purest format of the game.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul boasts of being the only West Indies to feature in this elite list of facing most balls in Test cricket history. He tackled as many as 27,395 balls on the cricket pitch while playing the Test format which means that he was present on the field for an enormous 37,123 minutes.

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-491637" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Jacques-Kallis.jpg" alt="Jacques Kallis" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-491637" class="wp-caption-text">Jacques Kallis. (Photo by GREG WOOD/AFP via Getty Images)</figcaption>

Perhaps the greatest all-rounder of all time, <strong>South Africa&#8217;s </strong>Jacques Kallis has some jaw-dropping numbers to his name in the gentleman&#8217;s game. Kallis is the only cricketer in the annals of the game to have scored over 10,000 runs and taken over 250 wickets in both Test cricket and One Day Internationals.

In terms of facing the most number of deliveries in the purest format of the game, he comes only third to Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. Kallis faced a whopping 28,903 deliveries on the field while playing Test cricket which roughly translates to spending an amazing 38,400 minutes on the crease.

Since his debut in the longest format on December 14, 1995 against England to playing his last Test game on December 26, 2013 against India, Jacques Kallis smashed an enormous 13,289 runs in 166 Tests at 55.4 along with scalping 292 wickets at an economy of 2.82.

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-487923" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Sachin-Tendulkar-2.jpg" alt="Sachin Tendulkar" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-487923" class="wp-caption-text">Sachin Tendulkar. (Photo by Philip Brown/Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)</figcaption>

Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar features at second position in this list after Rahul Dravid as he faced a stunning 29,437 balls on the crease while playing in the longest format of the game. This means that the Master Blaster spent as many as 41,304 minutes on the Test cricket field.

Fondly known as the &#8216;God of Cricket&#8217;, Sachin also holds the record of playing the most number of matches in the purest format. He went on to play a staggering 200 Test matches during the course of his illustrious cricket career; no other player has played more than 168 (Steve Waugh and <strong>Ricky Ponting</strong>).

As far as the runs scored are concerned, while featuring in 200 games in a time frame of 1989 to 2013, Tendulkar hammered 15,921 runs with his willow at an average of 53.8.

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-415797" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Rahul-Dravid-2.jpg" alt="Rahul Dravid" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-415797" class="wp-caption-text">Rahul Dravid in Test cricket. (Photo Source: Getty Images)</figcaption>

Unarguably, Rahul Dravid is one of the most technically sound and dependable batsmen <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/icc-should-dock-indias-points-if-pitch-for-next-test-match-is-the-same-monty-panesar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>India</strong></a> has ever produced. Known as The Wall of Indian cricket during his times, Dravid was capable of performing any role for the team be it opening the innings, batting in the middle-order, keeping the gloves or passing the time on the field.

Rahul Dravid outplayed all the other international batsmen in terms of facing the number of balls and spending most time on the crease. He has faced 31,258 deliveries during his Test Career which roughly equals to 44,152 minutes and almost 736 hours on the crease, a world record.

During his glorious Test career of 16 years that spanned from 1996 to 2012, the right-hander amassed a whopping 13,288 runs at a stunning average of 52.3 and strike rate of 42.5.

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Testing cricketers on strength, endurance, skills, consistency, and various other parameters, Test cricket stands true to its name in all senses. Besides, despite the emergence of the limited-overs format like One-day Internationals and T20 Internationals, Test cricket hasn’t lost its essence, as it is still regarded as the purest format of the game, which truly determines the capabilities of a cricketer.</p>
<p>While in the modern era cricket, more emphasis is laid on maintaining the strike-rate or having the ability of hitting the ball out of the park , there were times when the batting greats used to exhibit first-class patience and tremendous resilience to stay on the cricket pitch and produce innings that spanned beyond our wildest imaginations.</p>
<h3>Top 5 batsmen who faced most balls in Test cricket history</h3>
<h3>Allan Border &#8211; 27002</h3>
<figure id="attachment_442216" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-442216" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-442216" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Allan-Border.jpg" alt="Allan Border" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-442216" class="wp-caption-text">Allan Border. (Photo source: Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
<p>Allan Border is widely renowned as the best captain to ever have led the <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/former-sri-lanka-cricketer-suraj-randiv-opts-bus-driving-profession-in-australia-to-make-ends-meet/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Australia</strong></a> cricket team and was responsible for transforming them into world beaters who were capable of taking down any opposition anywhere in the world. However, Border was an equally good batsmen who was known for his determination and grit.</p>
<p>In his glorious Test career of 17 years, that spanned from 1978 to 1994, Border faced a huge 27,002 deliveries and spent a whopping 35,639 minutes on the pitch. He also has amassed 11,174 runs in 156 Test matches at an average of 50.6.</p>
<p>In addition, Allan has 27 hundreds and 63 half-centuries to his name in the purest format of the game, with 205 runs being his highest score.</p>
<p></p>
<h3>Shivnarine Chanderpaul &#8211; 27395</h3>
<figure id="attachment_435934" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-435934" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-435934" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Shivnaraine-Chanderpaul.jpg" alt="Shivnarine Chanderpaul" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-435934" class="wp-caption-text">Shivnarine Chanderpaul (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption></figure>
<p>Considered as one of the greatest batsmen of his era, former <strong>West Indies</strong> captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul is the first Indo-Caribbean to play 100 Tests for the West Indies. The unsung hero of West Indies, Chanderpaul was grown to become the rock and holding force of a fragile West Indies batting line-up.</p>
<p>Since his Test debut against in March 1994 to his last Test match against the same opponents in May 2015, Shivnarine amassed a massive 11,896 runs in 164 Test games at an average of 51.4 and strike rate of 43.3. The right-arm leg spinner also has 9 wickets to his name in the purest format of the game.</p>
<p>Shivnarine Chanderpaul boasts of being the only West Indies to feature in this elite list of facing most balls in Test cricket history. He tackled as many as 27,395 balls on the cricket pitch while playing the Test format which means that he was present on the field for an enormous 37,123 minutes.</p>
<p></p>
<h3>Jacques Kallis &#8211; 28903</h3>
<figure id="attachment_491637" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-491637" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-491637" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Jacques-Kallis.jpg" alt="Jacques Kallis" width="402" height="374" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-491637" class="wp-caption-text">Jacques Kallis. (Photo by GREG WOOD/AFP via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
<p>Perhaps the greatest all-rounder of all time, <strong>South Africa&#8217;s </strong>Jacques Kallis has some jaw-dropping numbers to his name in the gentleman&#8217;s game. Kallis is the only cricketer in the annals of the game to have scored over 10,000 runs and taken over 250 wickets in both Test cricket and One Day Internationals.</p>
<p>In terms of facing the most number of deliveries in the purest format of the game, he comes only third to Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. Kallis faced a whopping 28,903 deliveries on the field while playing Test cricket which roughly translates to spending an amazing 38,400 minutes on the crease.</p>
<p>Since his debut in the longest format on December 14, 1995 against England to playing his last Test game on December 26, 2013 against India, Jacques Kallis smashed an enormous 13,289 runs in 166 Tests at 55.4 along with scalping 292 wickets at an economy of 2.82.</p>
<p></p>
<h3>Sachin Tendulkar &#8211; 29437</h3>
<figure id="attachment_487923" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-487923" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-487923" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Sachin-Tendulkar-2.jpg" alt="Sachin Tendulkar" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-487923" class="wp-caption-text">Sachin Tendulkar. (Photo by Philip Brown/Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
<p>Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar features at second position in this list after Rahul Dravid as he faced a stunning 29,437 balls on the crease while playing in the longest format of the game. This means that the Master Blaster spent as many as 41,304 minutes on the Test cricket field.</p>
<p>Fondly known as the &#8216;God of Cricket&#8217;, Sachin also holds the record of playing the most number of matches in the purest format. He went on to play a staggering 200 Test matches during the course of his illustrious cricket career; no other player has played more than 168 (Steve Waugh and <strong>Ricky Ponting</strong>).</p>
<p>As far as the runs scored are concerned, while featuring in 200 games in a time frame of 1989 to 2013, Tendulkar hammered 15,921 runs with his willow at an average of 53.8.</p>
<p></p>
<h3>Rahul Dravid &#8211; 31258</h3>
<figure id="attachment_415797" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-415797" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-415797" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Rahul-Dravid-2.jpg" alt="Rahul Dravid" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-415797" class="wp-caption-text">Rahul Dravid in Test cricket. (Photo Source: Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
<p>Unarguably, Rahul Dravid is one of the most technically sound and dependable batsmen <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/icc-should-dock-indias-points-if-pitch-for-next-test-match-is-the-same-monty-panesar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>India</strong></a> has ever produced. Known as The Wall of Indian cricket during his times, Dravid was capable of performing any role for the team be it opening the innings, batting in the middle-order, keeping the gloves or passing the time on the field.</p>
<p>Rahul Dravid outplayed all the other international batsmen in terms of facing the number of balls and spending most time on the crease. He has faced 31,258 deliveries during his Test Career which roughly equals to 44,152 minutes and almost 736 hours on the crease, a world record.</p>
<p>During his glorious Test career of 16 years that spanned from 1996 to 2012, the right-hander amassed a whopping 13,288 runs at a stunning average of 52.3 and strike rate of 42.5.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Testing cricketers on strength, endurance, skills, consistency, and various other parameters, Test cricket stands true to its name in all senses. Besides, despite the emergence of the limited-overs format like One-day Internationals and T20 Internationals, Test cricket hasn’t lost its essence, as it is still regarded as the purest format of the game, which truly determines the capabilities of a cricketer.</p>
<p>While in the modern era cricket, more emphasis is laid on maintaining the strike-rate or having the ability of hitting the ball out of the park , there were times when the batting greats used to exhibit first-class patience and tremendous resilience to stay on the cricket pitch and produce innings that spanned beyond our wildest imaginations.</p>
<h3>Top 5 batsmen who faced most balls in Test cricket history</h3>
<h3>Allan Border &#8211; 27002</h3>
<figure id="attachment_442216" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-442216" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-442216" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Allan-Border.jpg" alt="Allan Border" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-442216" class="wp-caption-text">Allan Border. (Photo source: Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
<p>Allan Border is widely renowned as the best captain to ever have led the <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/former-sri-lanka-cricketer-suraj-randiv-opts-bus-driving-profession-in-australia-to-make-ends-meet/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Australia</strong></a> cricket team and was responsible for transforming them into world beaters who were capable of taking down any opposition anywhere in the world. However, Border was an equally good batsmen who was known for his determination and grit.</p>
<p>In his glorious Test career of 17 years, that spanned from 1978 to 1994, Border faced a huge 27,002 deliveries and spent a whopping 35,639 minutes on the pitch. He also has amassed 11,174 runs in 156 Test matches at an average of 50.6.</p>
<p>In addition, Allan has 27 hundreds and 63 half-centuries to his name in the purest format of the game, with 205 runs being his highest score.</p>
<p></p>
<h3>Shivnarine Chanderpaul &#8211; 27395</h3>
<figure id="attachment_435934" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-435934" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-435934" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Shivnaraine-Chanderpaul.jpg" alt="Shivnarine Chanderpaul" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-435934" class="wp-caption-text">Shivnarine Chanderpaul (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption></figure>
<p>Considered as one of the greatest batsmen of his era, former <strong>West Indies</strong> captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul is the first Indo-Caribbean to play 100 Tests for the West Indies. The unsung hero of West Indies, Chanderpaul was grown to become the rock and holding force of a fragile West Indies batting line-up.</p>
<p>Since his Test debut against in March 1994 to his last Test match against the same opponents in May 2015, Shivnarine amassed a massive 11,896 runs in 164 Test games at an average of 51.4 and strike rate of 43.3. The right-arm leg spinner also has 9 wickets to his name in the purest format of the game.</p>
<p>Shivnarine Chanderpaul boasts of being the only West Indies to feature in this elite list of facing most balls in Test cricket history. He tackled as many as 27,395 balls on the cricket pitch while playing the Test format which means that he was present on the field for an enormous 37,123 minutes.</p>
<p></p>
<h3>Jacques Kallis &#8211; 28903</h3>
<figure id="attachment_491637" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-491637" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-491637" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Jacques-Kallis.jpg" alt="Jacques Kallis" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-491637" class="wp-caption-text">Jacques Kallis. (Photo by GREG WOOD/AFP via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
<p>Perhaps the greatest all-rounder of all time, <strong>South Africa&#8217;s </strong>Jacques Kallis has some jaw-dropping numbers to his name in the gentleman&#8217;s game. Kallis is the only cricketer in the annals of the game to have scored over 10,000 runs and taken over 250 wickets in both Test cricket and One Day Internationals.</p>
<p>In terms of facing the most number of deliveries in the purest format of the game, he comes only third to Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. Kallis faced a whopping 28,903 deliveries on the field while playing Test cricket which roughly translates to spending an amazing 38,400 minutes on the crease.</p>
<p>Since his debut in the longest format on December 14, 1995 against England to playing his last Test game on December 26, 2013 against India, Jacques Kallis smashed an enormous 13,289 runs in 166 Tests at 55.4 along with scalping 292 wickets at an economy of 2.82.</p>
<p></p>
<h3>Sachin Tendulkar &#8211; 29437</h3>
<figure id="attachment_487923" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-487923" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-487923" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Sachin-Tendulkar-2.jpg" alt="Sachin Tendulkar" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-487923" class="wp-caption-text">Sachin Tendulkar. (Photo by Philip Brown/Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
<p>Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar features at second position in this list after Rahul Dravid as he faced a stunning 29,437 balls on the crease while playing in the longest format of the game. This means that the Master Blaster spent as many as 41,304 minutes on the Test cricket field.</p>
<p>Fondly known as the &#8216;God of Cricket&#8217;, Sachin also holds the record of playing the most number of matches in the purest format. He went on to play a staggering 200 Test matches during the course of his illustrious cricket career; no other player has played more than 168 (Steve Waugh and <strong>Ricky Ponting</strong>).</p>
<p>As far as the runs scored are concerned, while featuring in 200 games in a time frame of 1989 to 2013, Tendulkar hammered 15,921 runs with his willow at an average of 53.8.</p>
<p></p>
<h3>Rahul Dravid &#8211; 31258</h3>
<figure id="attachment_415797" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-415797" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-415797" src="https://media.crictracker.com/media/attachments/Rahul-Dravid-2.jpg" alt="Rahul Dravid" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-415797" class="wp-caption-text">Rahul Dravid in Test cricket. (Photo Source: Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
<p>Unarguably, Rahul Dravid is one of the most technically sound and dependable batsmen <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/icc-should-dock-indias-points-if-pitch-for-next-test-match-is-the-same-monty-panesar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>India</strong></a> has ever produced. Known as The Wall of Indian cricket during his times, Dravid was capable of performing any role for the team be it opening the innings, batting in the middle-order, keeping the gloves or passing the time on the field.</p>
<p>Rahul Dravid outplayed all the other international batsmen in terms of facing the number of balls and spending most time on the crease. He has faced 31,258 deliveries during his Test Career which roughly equals to 44,152 minutes and almost 736 hours on the crease, a world record.</p>
<p>During his glorious Test career of 16 years that spanned from 1996 to 2012, the right-hander amassed a whopping 13,288 runs at a stunning average of 52.3 and strike rate of 42.5.</p>

Despite emergence of the limited-overs format like ODIs and T20Is, Test cricket hasn’t lost its essence.

In this article, let's flip the pages and take a look at 5 batsmen who faced most balls in Test cricket history.