Steve Smith scripted history in the first Test match against Sri Lanka in Galle. He reached the 10,1000th Test run as a batter and became the fifth fastest batter to achieve this feat. Smith ended the day’s play having scored his 35th Test hundred and is batting on 104 runs off 188 balls.
The Australian maestro is widely regarded as the greatest Test batsman of this generation given the batting average with which he has scored the sheer amount of Test runs. At one stage, his batting average in Tests was well over 60. Currently, he has an average of 56.44 in Test cricket, which depicts that he is in a league of his own.
Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting was asked whether Smith is the best player of this generation. He responded that he probably is and stated that his close rival is absolutely Joe Root.
“Is he the best player of his generation? It’s hard to argue against it. Joe Root is the other one now, and [Kane] Williamson’s record is outstanding as well. Joe’s last couple of years have elevated him right back up there, I think. Five or six years ago, when this big four emerged, with [Virat] Kohli being one of those as well, Joe was probably down near the bottom part of that because he hadn’t made the hundreds the other guys had made, but he’s made 19 hundreds in the past four years,” Ponting was quoted as saying by The Sydney Morning Herald.
Steve Smith, Joe Root, Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson had formed the Fab Four
Root, Smith, Kane Williamson, and Virat Kohli have been included in the famous Fab Four, regarded as the best four batters in the world. The Indian run machine has fallen down in Test cricket in the last four or five years due to the poor run of form that he has endured in this format. He is the only batter in that fab four whose average is below 50.
Root has been super consistent in the last few years, scoring runs all around the ground and notching up centuries at ease. Smith had a bit of a lean period, but he picked it up from the third Test match against India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. It is going to be a great contest between Smith and Root in the Ashes this year.
