Top 5 Test run-scorers in 2017   

2017 was a significant year for Test cricket. Even as numerous gripping matches captivated spectators right throughout the year, the International Cricket Council (ICC) affirmed in October that the long-awaited league-style Test Championship will finally take place in 2019. On the field, India were the most dominant team in the calendar year. Their sustained excellence in the Test arena was largely due to their batting lineup consistently piling on significant totals.

Let us now take an in-depth look at the top five run-scorers in Tests which were held in 2017. While Australia have one representative in their steadfast captain, as many as two batsmen from the Indian lineup saunter into the top five. Left-handed openers from South Africa and Sri Lanka complete the list. Here are the most prolific run-makers in the premier format of the game during the calendar year.

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#5 Dimuth Karunaratne - 1031 runs

Dimuth Karunaratne's consistent showing enabled Sri Lanka to defeat Pakistan in UAE

While their limited-overs fortunes sank deeper in the quagmire, Sri Lanka had a relatively reasonable year in Test cricket. The unprecedented 2-0 triumph, which put an end to Pakistan's 15-year unbeaten series streak in UAE, would rank among the finest victories in their Test history. A large part of the euphoric result was achieved on the back of Dimuth Karunaratne's reliable presence at the top of the order.

With 306 runs from four innings, Karunarante topped the batting charts in Sri Lanka's conquest of Pakistan. His painstakingly compiled 405-ball 196 in the day-night encounter at Dubai was one of the best knocks in 2017. In the calendar year, the left-hander scored 1031 runs at an average of 39.65 with three centuries and four fifties. He edged ahead of his skipper Dinesh Chandimal by a slender margin of 28 runs to sneak into the top five.

#4 Virat Kohli - 1059 runs

Kohli amassed a scarcely believable tally of 610 runs in the home series against Sri Lanka

Virat Kohli continued from where he left off in 2016 and scored a sparkling double century against Bangladesh at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad during February. However, his batting form nosedived in an unexpected manner as a combination of tougher pitches and probing Australian bowling attack made life quite difficult for him in the 2017 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Extra Cover: Rating India's Test cricketers in 2017

After a glut of white-ball matches, Kohli made a smooth transition back into Test cricket with an unbeaten second-innings century in Galle. During his final assignment of the calendar year, the Indian skipper lifted the bar by several notches. Scores of 104*, 213, 243 and 50 radiated his penchant for making the most of imperious form. In all, he played 10 Tests in 2017 and scored 1059 runs at a stellar average of 75.64 and even more remarkable strike-rate of 76.24. Five centuries and only one fifty speak volumes about his incredible conversion-rate.

#3 Dean Elgar - 1128 runs

Dean Elgar is arguably the most underrated batsman in the current Test arena

Showing remarkable resilience at the top of the order, Dean Elgar was the bedrock of South Africa's batting lineup for the vast majority of 2017. The southpaw's watchfulness against the new ball provided the foundation for the middle-order batsmen to express themselves at the crease. From 12 Tests in the calendar year, he registered 1128 runs at an average of 53.71 with as many as five centuries and four fifties.

During the second Test of the England tour, Elgar put on a decisive 135-run partnership with Hashim Amla in South Africa's second innings. The left-hander's 80 contributed significantly to the visitors' only triumph in an otherwise calamitous series. When it seemed like he would score his maiden double ton, the opener fell short by a solitary run and joined a rare club during the Potchefstroom Test match against Bangladesh.

#2 Cheteshwar Pujara - 1140 runs

Cheteshwar Pujara has been instrumental to India's dominant Test form in recent times

Possessing an insatiable appetite for runs, Cheteshwar Pujara was a vital cog in India's commanding form in 2017. No batsman in the Indian team amassed more runs than his yearly collection of 1140 runs from 11 Tests at a robust average of 67.05. Ranging from those viciously turning tracks in the Australia series to the flat surfaces in Sri Lanka and the rare green-tinged pitch in Kolkata, he managed to find ways to contribute to the team's cause.

If his double century on a sluggish track in Ranchi facilitated India's befitting response to Australia's formidable first-innings total, Pujara turned the series on its head by scoring an invaluable 92 during the preceding Test in Bengaluru. In tandem with Ajinkya Rahane, he built a game-changing partnership on a dicey surface. With India set to contest quite a few challenging series outside the subcontinent, they will be banking on Pujara to produce such series-defining knocks.

#1 Steven Smith - 1305 runs

Steven Smith is rapidly rising towards the pantheon of all-time batting greats

Going from strength to strength, Steven Smith finished 2017 as the leading run-scorer in Test cricket. From 11 matches in the calendar year, the Australian captain amassed 1305 runs at a sterling average of 76.76 with six centuries and three fifties. This is the fourth successive year wherein the unorthodox right-hander has scored more than thousand runs at an average of over 70. No batsman in the history of the game has managed to register this feat at an average of more than 50 in as many consecutive years.

Extra Cover: Best since Bradman - Why Steven Smith is on his way to batting immortality

The 2017 Border-Gavaskar Trophy saw Smith establish himself as the modern-day master of batting across myriad conditions. His tenacious second-innings century on an abrasive surface helped Australia surge to an unexpected triumph in Pune.

Even though the Aussies eventually went on to lose that series by a 1-2 margin, their captain emerged from the tour with his head held high. He had negated the dual threat of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja to top the batting charts in a gruelling series on Indian soil. With a jaw-dropping tally of 604 runs from the first four Tests in the Ashes series, Smith also ended the calendar year on a sensational note.