Former Australia captain and veteran batsman Steve Smith has overtaken Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar to claim the title of most centuries scored in the Border Gavaskar Trophy. Notably, Smith scored his 34th Test hundred, 2nd of the series, against India in Melbourne on Friday.
The eccentric right-hander has now scored 10 centuries in the Border Gavaskar Trophy, compared to 9 each for Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar. Kohli scored a century in the first match of the 2024 BGT but has since gone on a dud run.
Steve Smith has also moved past Virat Kohli in another important statistic, overtaking the modern Indian great in the list of most runs scored by a batsman in the Border Gavaskar Trophy. While Sachin remains the tournament's all-time leading run-scorer with 3,262 runs in his 34 matches, Smith has now moved safely into fifth place.
As it stands, Smith has scored 2,130 runs in the 22 BGT matches, at an average of 62.64 and a highest score of 192. Kohli, meanwhile, is 6th with 2,105 runs in the 28 matches at an average of 46.77 and a highest score of 186.
Smith came to bat with Australia in a relatively comfortable position with 154 runs on the board. He then shared an 83-run partnership with Marnus Labuschagne to put Australia in a commanding position. Later on, as the Aussies lost a couple of quick wickets, Smith put on a crucial partnership with first Alex Carey (31) and then skipper Pat Cummins (49) to pile the pressure on the Indian bowlers.
Smith remains not out on 139 from 194 deliveries at a strike rate of 71.65. The pair of Smith and Mitchell Starc have taken Australia to 454/7 at lunch on the day two at Melbourne.
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