"It would have been great to have been able to do it in Sydney": Steve Smith on 10,000 Test run-mark

Steve Smith needed just 38 runs to complete 10,000 runs in the longest format of the game but could manage to score 37 runs during the match which Australia won by six wickets to lift the Border-Gavaskar Trophy title

Australian star batsman Steve Smith described the feat of completing 10,000 runs in Test cricket as a different beast after falling short by just one run.

Steve Smith missed the opportunity to achieve the milestone at his home ground in Sydney in the fifth and final match against Team India.

Steve Smith needed just 38 runs to complete 10,000 runs in the longest format of the game but could manage to score 37 runs during the match which Australia won by six wickets to lift the Border-Gavaskar Trophy title.

"I don't read too much into stats and stuff, but, 10,000 is a bit of a different beast," Smith told 'SEN 1170 Breakfast'.

"It probably was (on my mind), to be honest. Normally I sort of don't buy into any of that stuff, but pre-game, I was doing lots of media because I was approaching that mark."

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The 'number 38' played on his mind in such a way that Smith joked he would forever associate it with Josh Hazlewood, whose jersey number is 38.

"I knew I needed 38, and all I could actually picture trying to sleep at night was the back of Josh Hazlewood's shirt because he's number 38 (laughs). It's strange like that, isn't it?"

"It was probably playing on my mind more than any other game that I've played, to be honest.

"But, it is what it is, fortunately, we were able to win that game in the end, so it didn't really matter," he said.

Australia will now tour to Sri Lanka for the two-match Test series. Steve Smith hopes to achieve the milestone on day one of the first Test matches if Australia gets to bat first.

"It would have been great to have been able to do it in Sydney in front of all my friends and family because you're joining a pretty elite group there I suppose, but it wasn't to be".

"As a kid, I never would have dreamt of that, I dreamt to play cricket for Australia and have a career playing for Australia, but to have been able to get to this mark, it's a dream come true in a way," he added.

Steve Smith would become the 15th overall and only the fourth Australian batsman to complete 10,000 runs in Test Cricket.

(With PTI Inputs)

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