KL Rahul is poised to surpass Gautam Gambhir in career Test runs as the Indian cricket team prepares for a two-match series against Sri Lanka starting August 15. Rahul needs just two runs to achieve this milestone, highlighting his significant presence in the squad ahead of the tour.
Leadership Return and Career Milestones Having regained his place in the team’s leadership core this past June, the 2014-debutant arrives in the island nation ready to serve as a vital source of backing for captain Shubman Gill. Armed with 4,153 runs from 68 Test matches, the experienced right-handed batsman is on the verge of a personal landmark, requiring only two additional runs to move past India’s current head coach on the country’s historical Test run-scoring leaderboard. Gambhir amassed 4,154 runs during a 58-Test career that featured nine centuries and 22 fifties, sharing a compelling history with the player now poised to eclipse him. In a twist of fate, Gambhir’s own final appearance in India’s Test playing XI back in 2016 came to an end when a fully fit Rahul returned to reclaim his spot. Rahul’s own red-ball journey boasts 12 hundreds and 20 half-centuries, alongside a brief stint leading the side across three Tests. The vice-captaincy represents a full-circle revival for Rahul, who cemented himself as a middle-and-top-order fixture and entered the leadership circle in 2022 before a lean patch in 2023 saw him temporarily stripped of the deputy role and dropped from the side. India All-Time Test Run Rankings At the summit of India’s all-time Test scoring charts stands Sachin Tendulkar, whose monumental career yielded 15,921 runs across 200 matches, a legendary tally that remains completely untouched by any player in international cricket history. Occupying the second spot is Rahul Dravid, who compiled 13,265 runs, together, he and Tendulkar form an exclusive club as the only Indian cricketers to surpass the 10,000-run milestone in both Test and One Day International formats. Further down the elite lineup, pioneer Sunil Gavaskar holds third place with 10,122 runs from 122 Tests, having famously become the first player in world cricket to cross the five-figure threshold. Rounding out the top five highest run-getters for India are Virat Kohli in fourth with a career total of 9,230 runs.
Now, three years later, he returns to Sri Lanka with his vice-captaincy restored, carrying both strategic responsibility and a major personal benchmark within arm’s reach. India squad: Shubman Gill (c), KL Rahul (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Manav Suthar, Saransh Jain, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, Auqib Nabi, Sarfaraz Khan. Sri Lanka squad: Dhananjaya de Silva (c), Kamindu Mendis (vc), Lahiru Udana, Nishan Madushka, Dinesh Chandimal, Pasindu Sooriyabandara, Sonal Dinusha, Niroshan Dickwella, Ramesh Mendis, Prabath Jayasuriya, Keshara Nuwantha, Milan Rathnayake, Asitha Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, Vishwa Fernando, Dilshan Madushanka.
