Stats: Fastest players to complete 10000 runs in International cricket

From starting his career as a leg-spinner, Steven Smith has come a long way to dominate Test cricket with the bat and leading the Australian team in all the three formats. The 28-year-old is on the top of ICC Test rankings for batsmen for nearly three years and his Test batting average of 63 is only behind Sir Donald Bradman. Smith’s record speaks for himself as his Test average came down by 0.35 despite having a decent game with scores of 56 and 38 in the Durban Test.

Smith’s record isn’t limited to only Test cricket as he scored 3431 runs at an average of 41.84 in 108 ODIs. In the first Test against South Africa, the Australian skipper went past 10000 runs in International cricket. He completed the milestone when he reached 25 in the 2nd innings at the Kingsmead in Durban. Thus, he became the 13th Australian player to complete 10000 runs across the three formats in International cricket. Interestingly, this was Smith’s 200th International game.

Smith needed 232 innings for going past 10000 International runs which makes him the quickest Australia to reach this milestone. The previous fastest Australian to complete 10k runs in International cricket was Matthew Hayden in his 239th innings. Smith could have achieved this milestone earlier had he not began his career as a specialist leg-spinner. Till 2012, the Australian aggregated 796 in 46 innings at a low average of 21.51 with only two fifties.

He reached 1000 runs in International cricket in his 52nd innings and scored 9000 runs in the next 180 innings at an average of over 57. A total of 80 players including Smith have completed 10000 runs in International cricket so far but only five players have taken fewer innings than Smith. The Australian skipper is equalled along with Virat Kohli at 6th position as the two needed 232 innings for this milestone. Sir Viv Richards is the quickest to 10000 International runs taking only 206 innings; 11 less than the 2nd quickest Hashim Amla (217).

Quickest to reach 10000 runs in International cricket:

(Stats as on March 3, 2018)