The second day of the third and final Test match has finally brought some good news for the Australian cricket and captain Steven smith. With a boundary off Lakshan Sandakan on the very first ball of 23rd over, Steve Smith became the 26th Australian batsman to reach 4,000 Test run mark. Smith who is 27 years and 73 days old has become the youngest Australian cricketer to get to this milestone to beat the record of the former Australian legend Ricky Ponting.
Ponting achieved this mark at the age of 27 years and 338 days. Don Bradman who is in the fourth position in this list took 28 years and 130 days to crack 4000 runs in Test cricket.
Here is the list of youngest Australian cricketers to achieve this record:
Steve Smith – 27 years and 73 days old
Ricky Ponting – 27y, 338d
Neil Harvey – 28y, 12d
Don Bradman – 28y, 130d
Allan Border – 28y, 223d
Overall Smith stands nowhere in this list if we take all the teams into consideration. The great Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar is the youngest player who holds this record as he achieved this milestone at the age of 24 years and 224 days.
Here is list of youngest players to reach this milestone:
Sachin Tendulkar (IND) – 24 years and 224 days old
Alastair Cook (ENG) – 25y, 79d
Kane Williamson (NZ) – 25y, 199d
Joe Root (ENG) – 25y, 227d
Graeme Smith (SA) – 25y, 336d
Along with that smith is also not the fastest to achieve this record as former Australian cricketer Don Bradman played just 48 innings to achieve this record. For Australia Matthew Hayden is second on the list whereas Herbert Sutcliffe, the former England cricketer is overall second fastest to achieve this record.
Fastest Australians to 4,000 Test runs (by innings):
Don Bradman – 48 innings
Matthew Hayden – 77 innings
Steve Smith – 80 innings
Neil Harvey – 80 innings
David Warner – 84 innings
Fastest overall to 4,000 Test runs (by innings)
Don Bradman (AUS) – 48 innings
Herbert Sutcliffe (ENG) – 68 innings
Everton Weekes (WI) – 71 innings
Viv Richards (WI) – 71 innings
Jack Hobbs (ENG) – 75 innings
Currently, the Australian team headed by captain Steve smith is on Sri Lanka voyage where their form has been awful till now as they are trailing by 2-0 in three Test matches series. Smith and Shaun Marsh are fighting it hard in the final Test match so as to avoid another defeat. Also, their number one position is at stake and this match will have an impact on that. The third day will decide the future of this Test match, so Smith and Marsh will have to do wonders on the third day so as to keep their team in the race of winning the match.