Most runs in Tests since Sachin Tendulkar's retirement

Sachin Tendulkar's records have been, and will continue to be a benchmark when it comes to judging the capabilities of a modern-day Test batsman.

The Master Blaster, who made his international debut on 15th November 1989 against Pakistan, bid adieu to international cricket on 16th November 2013 in front of his home crowd at Mumbai.

The man who played 200 Test in his 24-year long career, scored 15,921 runs, with 51 centuries and 68 fifties. It will surely take a galactic effort from a batsman to go past Tendulkar as far Test cricket is concerned.

However, these five men have been taking the longest format of cricket by storm since the day Tendulkar decided to hang his boots.

(The statistics included are between 16 Nov 2013 and 16 Nov 2017)

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Virat Kohli

If there is one man who is considered capable enough of emulating Sachin Tendulkar's heroics with the willow, it is none other than Team India skipper Virat Kohli.

The last four years saw Kohli rise through the ranks to become a phenomenon in international cricket. Since Tendulkar's retirement, Kohli has played 41 Tests and has scored 3527 runs at an average of 54.26.

His highest score in five-day cricket also came during this period. In a 2016 Test against England, Kohli scored 235 as the hosts beat the visitors by an innings and 36 runs.

Out of his 18 Test tons, 14 came during this period and he recently became the joint-fastest player to score 50 international hundreds along with Hashim Amla.

Alastair Cook

The former England captain may be going through a slump right now but in the last four years, Alastair Cook was one of the most successful batsmen in Test cricket.

Other than leading England to Ashes glory in 2015, Cook scored two double hundreds and four hundreds between November 2013 and 2017. In 50 Test matches, he scored 3828 runs at an average of 43.50.

His highest score since Tendulkar's retirement came in Abu Dhabi when he scored 263 to save the match against Pakistan in 2015.

In November 2016 at Rajkot, Cook became the 13th player to pass the mark of 30 Test tons when he struck 130 in England's second innings of the first Test, his fifth hundred in India and the most by any overseas batsman.

David Warner

When David Warner walked out to open Australia's batting in the first 2017/18 Ashes Test at the Gabba on Friday, he was accompanied by debutant Cameron Bancroft. Bancroft is Warner's 10th opening partner in last six years and it speaks volumes about Warner's capabilities as a Test opener.

Although the vice-captain has failed to click as an opening partner, he has flourished as an opening Test batsman. In 44 Tests that Warner has played in last four years, he has scored 4304 runs at an average of 53.13.

Since Tendulkar's retirement, Warner scored 17 tons and 16 fifties with 253 against New Zealand, being his highest score in five-day cricket that came in 2015.

Joe Root

Only six England captains - Ivo Bligh, Douglas Jardine, Raymond Illingworth, Mike Brearley, Michael Vaughan and Andrew Strauss - have managed to win the Ashes Down Under in the last 135 years and Joe Root is in a pursuit to enter the league of extraordinary gentlemen.

The man who took the reins of English cricket from Alastair Cook, with 4560 runs in 49 matches, Root is the second highest Test run-scorer in last four years. With 11 hundreds and 29 fifties, the number three batsman's highest Test score of 254 came after Tendulkar's retirement.

Root scored 254 runs in the first innings of a 2016 Test against Pakistan at Manchester and followed it up by an unbeaten 71 to lead England to a massive 330-run win.

Steven Smith

Virat Kohli might be ruling the roost in limited overs cricket but when it comes to Test cricket, there is no one quite like Australia skipper Steven Smith. The number one batsman in ICC Test rankings, Smith has scored 4605 runs in 44 Tests at an average of 67.72.

Since Tendulkar's retirement, Smith has scored 19 tons and 16 fifties in Test cricket, with 215 against England in 2015 Ashes being his highest.

In 2015, Smith won the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy after being named the ICC Cricketer of the Year 2015.

He was also adjudged the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year, which made him only the seventh cricketer in the world to bag the two coveted prizes in the same year.