Steve Smith Surpasses Rahul Dravid to Become 5th Fastest Batter to Complete 10000 Runs in Test Cricket

Australian run-machine Steve Smith on Wednesday (January 29) joined an illustrious club after becoming the fifteenth player overall and the fourth Aussie to complete 10,000 runs in Test cricket history.

Smith achieved the feat during Australia's series opening Test against Sri Lanka at the Galle International Stadium in Galle. The 35-year-old was made to wait for the milestone, missing out on reaching the landmark in front of his home crowd in Sydney earlier this month.

The right-handed batter, who was left stranded at 9999 runs at the completion of the Sydney Test against India, needed just one delivery ro reach the feat during the first session of day one's play in Galle, where he captained the side in Pat Cummins' absence and opted to bat after winning the toss.

Walking in to bat at number four, Smith danced down the track to flick wide of short mid-wicket off spinner Prabath Jayasuriya and rushed his partner Usman Khawaja for a single to complete the milestone.

Smith became the fifth fastest batter in terms of innings played to achieve the feat. He is only behind greats like Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, Kumar Sangakkara and Ricky Ponting in the list for quickest to reach the 10000 runs milestone.

While he remained behind four legends, Smith surpassed several other Test greats like Rahul Dravid, Younis Khan, Mahela Jayawardene, Sunil Gavaskar, Jacques Kallis and Joe Root to name a few. Here is a look at the top 10 quickest to reach the milestone:

Fastest to 10000 runs in Test cricket (in terms of innings)

Brian Lara (West Indies) - 195 innings
Sachin Tendulkar (India) - 195 innings
Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) - 195 innings
Ricky Ponting (Australia) - 196 innings
Steve Smith (Australia) - 205 innings
Rahul Dravid (India) - 206 innings
Younis Khan (Pakistan) - 208 innings
Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka) - 210 innings
Sunil Gavaskar (India) - 212 innings
Jacques Kallis (South Africa) - 217 innings

As mentioned earlier, Smith is the fourth Australian to reach the milestone after Allan Border, Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh. He is also the fifteenth player overall to complete 10000 Test runs, joining Joe Root among the active cricketers to join the 10000-club.

Coming back to the Galle Test, Australia were quick of the blocks thanks to Travis Head's onslaught in the first 14 overs as the left-handed opener smashed 57 off 40 balls, sharing a 94-run stand with Khawaja, who also reached his half-century before lunch.

Marnus Labuschagne looked good till he perished for 20, edging one to slip off Jeffrey Vandersay. Smith and Khawaja (65* off 98 balls) remained unbeaten going into the lunch break on day 1 as Australia moved to 145/2.