4 milestones Steve Smith can achieve in Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25
Steve Smith will be in the limelight during the upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25. He will be eager to perform well as Australia aims to reclaim the prestigious trophy.
Since Australia's victory over India in the World Test Championship (WTC) final last year, Smith has had a bit of a rough patch. He has scored 738 runs in 12 Tests at an average of 35.14. While he scored a century against England at Lord's, Smith has not given any significant performances.
The star Australian batter will be under some pressure to deliver in the upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy, set to begin on November 22. With the series spanning five Tests, Steve Smith has a wonderful opportunity to score big and help Australia dominate.
With the series fast approaching, Smith can also achieve certain milestones with the bat, should he have a successful series. As the anticipation and excitement continue to build for the most awaited Test series, here are four milestones that Smith can achieve in the 2024-25 BGT.
#4 Most Test hundreds by any batter against India
Steve Smith has always been among the runs against India, particularly in the Test format. The right-hander has nine Test hundreds against India from 37 innings with a high score of 192.
At present, England's Joe Root has 10 Test hundreds against India, the most by any batter against the Men in Blue in the format.
It has been more than 500 days since Smith last scored a Test century. But he needs just one hundred to equal Root and two to go past him and become the batter with the most Test hundreds against India.
#3 Australia's leading Test run-getter against India
Steve Smith has scored 2042 Test runs against India from 19 matches and 37 innings at an impressive average of 65.87. He is just 514 runs away from becoming Australia's leading Test run-getter against India.
The legendary Ricky Ponting has scored the most Test runs for an Australian against India. He scored 2555 runs against India in the format with an average of 54.36.
Smith will need to have a brilliant series with the bat if he is to go past Ponting and achieve this milestone.
#2 Fourth Australian to complete 10,000 Test runs
Steve Smith has played 109 Tests and batted in 195 innings. In the process, he has scored 9685 runs at an average of 56.97 with 32 hundreds.
Only three other Australian batters - Ricky Ponting (13,378), Allan Border (11,174), and Steve Waugh (10,927) - have scored 10,000 or more Test runs.
Smith is only 315 runs away from completing 10,000 Test runs and by doing so, will become only the fourth Australian batter to cross the mark.
#1 Sixth Australian to complete 17,000 international runs
Steve Smith has scored plenty of runs in his international career across formats. The 35-year-old has amassed 9685 runs in Test cricket, while he has scored 5662 runs in ODIs. In T20Is, Smith has scored 1094 runs. Combining all formats, he has scored 16441 runs.
Smith is 559 runs away from achieving the 17,000-run mark in international cricket and a successful outing in the BGT 2024-25 could see him crossing the milestone. By doing so, he will also become only the sixth Australian to have scored 17,000 runs in international cricket.