10 batsmen who are ahead of Virat Kohli in the ICC All-Time Test rankings list

(8) Vivian Richards (West Indies): 938

Vivian Richards scored 829 runs in his first series against England.

No batsmen in Test history had a greater presence on the crease than Sir Vivian Richards. Those who saw Richards play still argue that he is the greatest of all time, and for good reason. Richards had the capability to destroy any bowling attack on any given day, irrespective of the conditions. There are batsmen with better records than Viv, but hardly anyone who matches the impact that the great man had on the game. It is not that Richards is too bad with numbers. In a career spanning almost two decades, Richards played 121 tests and scored 8540 runs at an average of 50.24. It included 24 hundreds and 45 half-centuries, his highest being the famous 291 at The Oval in 1976.

Richards lead the West Indies in 50 tests. winning 27 and losing only 8. His own form was not up to scratch in them, scoring a meager 3068 runs at an average of 45, but he lead the team with great aplomb and got some fantastic results. Richards performed well against every opposition, but it was against England that he saved his best. Richards played 36 tests against England, he scored 2867 runs in those tests at an average of 63. There was always a point to prove when West Indies played England, and Viv was at the forefront of it. It is thereby fitting that Viv attained his career best rating playing against England.

Viv attained his career best rating of 938 after his century against England at Antigua in 1981. It was Viv's third century in the past 4 tests, and his 13th overall. Viv was averaging 63 after 43 test matches, but he tapered off after that. The burden of captaincy, and the controversy of the World Series meant that Viv never returned to that level ever again. Viv retired as the leading run scorer in West Indies' history, and till date holds the record for the highest rating achieved by a batsman from the Caribbean islands alongside Sobers and Walcott.