Top five leading run-scorers in World Test Championship league phase

The league phase of the inaugural ICC World Test Championship ended with a series between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh last month. India and New Zealand finished in the top two of the points table and secured their place in the summit clash.

The ICC World Test Championship featured nine teams. Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, and Ireland were the three Test-playing nations who missed out on the spot in this new competition. Unfortunately, a few series of this tournament got canceled due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Nevertheless, the race to the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final became very intense in the final stages.

There were multiple brilliant batting performances in the competition. In this article, we will look at the top five run-getters in the WTC league phase.

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5. Ajinkya Rahane scored 1,095 runs in the World Test Championship league phase

The Indian Test team's vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane is the only finalist to appear on this list. The right-handed batsman played 17 Test matches for India in the WTC league phase.

He amassed 1,095 runs at a fantastic batting average of 43.80. Rahane recorded three centuries and six fifties in the competition.

His century against Australia during the Boxing Day Test match at the MCG was one of the best knocks in the WTC league phase.

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4. Ben Stokes - 1,334 runs

England all-rounder Ben Stokes scored 441 runs in the Ashes in 2019. He began his ICC World Test Championship campaign with some excellent performances against Australia.

Stokes breached the 300-run mark in the away series against South Africa and the home series against West Indies. However, he could not perform his best while playing against Pakistan and India.

Still, Stokes ended with 1,334 runs to his name after 17 games in the World Test Championship league phase.

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3. Steve Smith - 1,341 runs

Former Australian captain Steve Smith edged Ben Stokes for a place in the top three by just seven runs. Smith missed one Test match of the Ashes 2019, but he aggregated 774 runs in the other four games of the series.

The Aussie player had a forgettable series against Pakistan, but he fared well versus New Zealand and India.

Smith ended the World Test Championship league phase with 1,341 runs in 13 matches. He scored four centuries and seven fifties for his country.

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2. Joe Root - 1,660 runs

Joe Root recorded three consecutive big scores in the ICC World Test Championship earlier this year. He played knocks of 228 and 186 against Sri Lanka and followed it up with another double ton versus India.

His three excellent performances helped the English skipper end the league phase as the number one English batsman.

Root scored 1,660 runs in 20 matches at an average of 47.42. Unfortunately, Root's effort went in vain as England narrowly missed out on a place in the World Test Championship final.

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1. Marnus Labuschagne was the highest run-scorer in the WTC league phase with 1,675 runs

Australian batsman Marnus Labuschagne got an opportunity to play in the Ashes in 2019 after Steve Smith got hurt.

Labuschagne aggregated 353 runs in seven innings against England and then cemented his place in the Australian Test team with a superb performance in the home summer.

Labuschagne scored 347 runs in two Tests against Pakistan before destroying the Kiwi bowling attack by amassing 549 runs in three Test matches against New Zealand.

The 26-year-old crossed the 1,500-run milestone in the World Test Championship league phase during the home series against India. Eventually, Labuschagne ended his WTC campaign with 1,675 runs in 23 innings.

Since the Indian and Kiwi batsmen are nowhere near Labuschagne right now on the batsmen's leaderboard, the Aussie player will likely finish the competition as the highest run-getter in the World Test Championship.

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