Cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar, who has been hailed by many fans as the best batsman to have played after Don Bradman, scored more than 34,000 runs in both the Test and ODI formats during his career and set a humongous record. However, a 30-year-old cricketer from Australia surpassed some of his records in Test cricket in recent times.
The cricketer is none other than Steve Smith, and if he continues to play in the same way, he is guaranteed to break many records of the Little Master in Tests.
Smith showed his class on day 2 of the fourth match of the Ashes 2019 series in Manchester, by scoring his third double century against England. He also surpassed Virat Kohli in the number of career centuries in Tests on Thursday, scoring his 26th hundred in Old Trafford.
Kohli may be a way better batsman than Smith in ODIs, but in Tests, Smith has been making us believe that he might be the best after Don Bradman.
The 30-year-old batsman scored his 26th ODI century against England and took just 121 innings to achieve the feat. He became the second-fastest batsman to do so by surpassing the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar and Mathew Hayden.
The Australian batsman currently has an average of 64.6 in the 67 matches he has played, while Kohli has 25 centuries to his name in 79 Tests with an average of 53.1.
Did Sachin Tendulkar accept that Smith is better than Kohli and him?
The Little Master took to Twitter on September 5 to applaud Smith. Tendulkar, who has a career average of 53.8 in Tests, posted a picture of Smith and stated that though the Australian cricketer has a complicated technique, it is his organised mindset that sets him apart.
The 46-year-old former cricketer also praised Smith for his comeback after serving a ban of 12 months because of his involvement in the infamous ball-tampering scandal.
It is probable that Tendulkar's "sets him apart" statement might have indicated that Smith is the best Test player, even better than Kohli. The cricketing legend is perhaps quite aware of the fact that Smith can also break more of his Test records in future.
COMPLICATED TECHNIQUE but an ORGANIZED MINDSET is what sets @stevesmith49 apart. Incredible comeback!#ENGvsAUS pic.twitter.com/02MNGkYQ7y
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) September 5, 2019
Banking on Smith's prolific batting performance, Australia posted a total of 497 runs for the loss of eight wickets on the second day of the fourth Test. In reply, England finished day two with 23 runs on board, losing Joe Denly to a Pat Cummins delivery. Both the teams are tied 1-1 in the Ashes.
