India's top 5 run-scorers in Tests vs Bangladesh ft. Gautam Gambhir

India will take on Bangladesh in a two-match Test series starting at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Thursday, September 19. The second Test will be played at the Green Park in Kanpur from September 27.

For the Men in Blue to have an advantage over their opponents in this series, they will have to be on top of their game with the bat in hand, and ensure that the Bangladeshi bowlers do not come near them.

This can be achieved only if the Indian batting unit decides to take things slowly and capitalise on the mistakes made by the bowlers of the Tigers, while waiting to impose their own personality as the game progresses.

If the head-to-head encounters between these two teams have shown us anything, it is this: India have managed to outplay Bangladesh completely whenever their batters have taken the onus upon themselves.

In this listicle, we take a look at the top five run-scorers for India against Bangladesh in Tests:

#1 Sachin Tendulkar

The legendary Sachin Tendulkar, who is the highest run-scorer in the history of the sport, is the batter who has also scored the most against Bangladesh for India in Test cricket. He amassed 820 runs in the 7 matches that he played against them.

Tendulkar batted in nine innings against Bangladesh and scored his runs at an average of 136, which is beyond thinkable for a cricketer. His highest Test score of 248 not out also came against the Tigers, in Dhaka in 2004.

#2 Rahul Dravid

Former India head coach and captain Rahul Dravid, who was in charge of the team until the ICC Men's T20 World Cup held in the West Indies and USA earlier this year, comes second on this list with 560 runs.

In the ten innings that he played against the Tigers across ten Tests, Dravid averaged a rather healthy 70, scoring three tons and one half-century against India's closest eastern neighbours.

Interestingly, Dravid got out for a duck in the only innings of the Dhaka Test in 2004 in which Tendulkar held the Indian innings together and put up his highest score in the format of the game: 248 not out.

#3 Cheteshwar Pujara

Former India number three Cheteshwar Pujara, who seems to have been discarded by the current team management and selectors, comes third on this list thanks to the 468 runs he amassed against Bangladesh.

The Saurashtra batter has an average of 78 in the eight innings he has played against the Tigers across five Tests, piling up one century and five half-centuries to add to the misery of their bowlers.

#4 Virat Kohli

Star India batter Virat Kohli, who is also recognised as one of the best in his generation, is fourth on this list. His claim to fame is the 437 runs he has scored so far against Bangladesh, which he is bound to expand upon soon.

With India taking on Bangladesh in a couple of Test matches in Chennai and Kanpur soon, Kohli will be keen on scoring more against the Tigers, although the latter come into this series on the back of a rich vein of form.

The Delhi batter averages just above 54 against Bangladesh, and has scored two centuries against them so far, including the gargantuan 204 he amassed for a winning cause in the one-off Test in Hyderabad in 2017.

#5 Gautam Gambhir

What will amuse a lot of our readers is that current India head coach Gautam Gambhir too is a part of this list, owing to the 381 runs he piled up against Bangladesh in the four Tests that he played against them.

The southpaw averaged an extremely impressive 76.20 against the Tigers in his career, and scored two centuries and one half-century against them, with the highest of 139 coming in the second Test in Chattogram in 2004.

Gambhir will want to guide his wards with the experience he had playing against Bangladesh over the years, and hope that they are able to assimilate those learnings as quickly as possible.