Australian captain Steve Smith continued to dazzle with the willow and rewrite record books. Today (January 5) was just another day at office for the right-hander as he matched West Indian great Sir Garry Sobers.
Smith completed 6,000 Test runs during the second day of the ongoing fifth and final Ashes Test in Sydney on Friday. The 28-year-old is now the second joint fastest to the milestone, with Sobers.
The quickest to reach 6,000 runs in the longer version of the game is Sir Don Bradman, in 68 innings. Smith and Sobers needed 111 visits to the crease.
Smith entered the Sydney Test needing 26 to reach the landmark. On the first ball of the 53rd over of Australia's first innings, the skipper took a single off debutant legspinner Mason Crane to equal Sobers. He is playing his 61st Test.
At stumps on the second day, he was unbeaten on 44 off 88 balls with three boundaries. The hosts were 193/2 in reply to England's 346. Usman Khawaja was 91 not out.
The right-handed batsman has been in prolific form in the ongoing Ashes series. He has already accumulated more than 600 runs with three tons. He is currently the number one Test batsman in the International Cricket Council's (ICC) Rankings.
Smith, for the third consecutive time, ended the calendar year as the number one Test batsman. 2015, 2016 and 2017 saw him rule the rankings charts. And he has begun the new year with a bang.
In 2017, Smith scaled new heights in ICC Rankings. He is now only behind Bradman as far as rating points are concerned. He has the second highest ever rating points of 947. Only Bradman is ahead with a world record of 961.
Smith made his Test debut in 2010 against Pakistan at Lord's. Among the current Test batsmen, he has the best average - 63 plus. He has so far hit 23 centuries in the five-day format.
Fastest to 6,000 Test runs (Top 5)
Don Bradman - 68 innings
Steve Smith, Garry Sobers - 111
Wally Hammond - 114
Len Hutton, Ken Barrington, Kumar Sangakkara - 116
Sunil Gavaskar - 117
