Steve Smith overtakes Younis Khan and Sunil Gavaskar’s Test records

GALLE: Australia’s stand-in captain Steve Smith etched his name into the history books on Thursday with a stellar 141-run knock in the ongoing first Test against Sri Lanka.

His remarkable innings, coupled with a double ton from Usman Khawaja and a quickfire fifty from Travis Head, propelled Australia to a commanding total of 468/3.

With his latest century, the top order batter surpassed cricket legends Younis Khan, Sunil Gavaskar and Brian Lara on the list of batters with the most Test centuries.

The Australian captain now has 35 centuries, overtaking the trio, who each have 34 centuries.

At the top of the pile, Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar holds the record with 51 Test centuries, followed by Jacques Kallis with 45 and Ricky Ponting with 41.

Smith's achievements didn’t stop there. He also surpassed Younis and Gavaskar to become the batter with the most career Test runs among the Indo-Pak duo.

Smith now has 10,140* runs, overtaking Gavaskar’s 10,122 and Younis’ 10,099 and is currently the 13th-highest run-scorer in Test history.

Tendulkar, with a monumental 15,921 Test runs, remains at the top, followed by Ponting with 13,378 and Kallis with 13,289.

Among the Fab Four—Smith, Joe Root, Virat Kohli, and Kane Williamson—Smith now ranks second in terms of the most centuries in Test cricket.

Root leads the pack with 40 centuries, while Smith trails closely with 35. Kohli and Williamson have 30 and 33 Test centuries, respectively.

It is pertinent to mention that Australia is currently dominating the Galle Test after batting first. 

They have scored over 450 runs, with Usman Khawaja remaining unbeaten on a double ton, and Josh Inglis contributing crucial runs for the team.

Australia (Playing XI): Usman Khawaja, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (c), Josh Inglis, Beau Webster, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Matthew Kuhnemann, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy.

Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Dimuth Karunaratne, Oshada Fernando, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva (c), Kusal Mendis (wk), Prabath Jayasuriya, Nishan Peiris, Jeffrey Vandersay, Asitha Fernando.