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Smith, who will bat at No. 4 for the Baggy Greens in the Boxing Day Test, is 191 runs away from becoming the fourth Australian to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket.
Steve Smith needs 191 runs to become fourth Aussie to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket. (Picture Credit: AFP)
The Australian men’s cricket team will face India in the fourth Test of the ongoing five-match series at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The match at the biggest cricket stadium in Australia is set to start on Thursday, December 26. After failing to get the better of India in the last three Boxing Day Tests played at the MCG, the Baggy Greens will be eager to end the 13-year-long wait this time around and also take a 2-1 lead in the ongoing bilateral series.
During the Boxing Day Test, star Aussie batters Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne will have a chance to achieve massive personal milestones. If Smith, who has 9809 runs to his name in 112 Tests played so far, manages to score 191 runs in the Boxing Day Test, then he will become the fourth Aussie batter after Allan Border, Steve Waugh, and Ricky Ponting to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket.
Ponting tops the list of batters with the most runs for Australia in Test cricket. The two-time ODI World Cup-winning captain finished his Test career with 13,378 runs in 168 matches for the Baggy Greens. Border is second on the list with 11,174 runs, and he is followed by Waugh, who amassed a total of 10,927 runs in 168 matches.
Most Test runs for Australia
- Ricky Ponting – 13,378
- Allan Border – 11,174
- Steve Waugh – 10,927
- Steve Smith – 9809
- David Warner – 8786
Smith will also have a chance to become the second fastest batter in the world after Brian Lara to score 10,000 Test runs in terms of matches. Lara, who retired from international cricket in 2007, joined the 10K runs club in his 111st match.
Fastest to 10,000 Test runs (in terms of matches)
- Brian Lara (West Indies) – 111
- Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) – 115
- Younis Khan (Pakistan) – 116
- Ricky Ponting (Australia) – 118
- Joe Root (Australia) – 118
Smith, who is coming into the fourth Test after scoring a century in the first innings of the third Test played at The Gabba in Brisbane, needs one more century to break Sachin Tendulkar’s record of scoring the most 100s in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. During his playing days, Tendulkar hammered nine centuries in 34 matches of BGT. Smith, who has played 21 matches in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy so far, also has nine centuries to his name.
Most 100s in Border-Gavaskar Trophy
- Sachin Tendulkar (India) – 9
- Virat Kohli (India) – 9
- Steve Smith (Australia) – 9
- Ricky Ponting (Australia) – 8
- Michael Clarke (Australia) – 7
Apart from Smith, Australia’s No. 3 batter Labuschagne will also have a chance to achieve a massive record. If the right-handed batter, who has failed to score big runs in Test cricket for quite some time now, manages to score at least 14 runs in the Boxing Day Test, then he will become the first Australian and second batter overall to score 4000 runs in the World Test Championship.
Most runs in WTC
- Joe Root (England) – 5543
- Marnus Labuschagne (Australia) – 3986
- Steve Smith (Australia) – 3610
As of now, Labuschagne has 3986 runs to his name in 48 WTC matches. The overall record of scoring the most runs in the WTC is in the name of England batter Joe Root, who has amassed a total of 5543 runs in 64 matches played so far.
