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Star Australia batter Steve Smith, talked candidly about why he did not reach the 10000-run mark in Test cricket, claiming that he was overanalyzing the situation. In the fifth Test match against India, Smith needed 38 runs to reach the milestone. But after scoring 37 runs in two innings of play in the Sydney game of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, he missed the enchanted number by only one run.
Steve Smith on being stuck on 9999
The star batter recently said that he was thinking about the milestone because of the excessive media attention it received. Consequently, after 114 matches, he is locked at 9999 runs. Smith said that although he does not typically give milestones much thought since 10,000 is a significant figure, it did cross his mind.
"I don’t read too much into stats and stuff, but 10,000 is a bit of a different beast. It probably was (on my mind), to be honest. Normally I sort of don’t buy into any of that stuff, but pre-game, I was doing lots of media because I was approaching that mark,” Smith said on radio talkshow SEN 1170 Breakfast.
Smith also disclosed that he was remembering his teammate Josh Hazlewood's shirt number—38—before turning in for the night before the game.
"I knew I needed 38, and all I could actually picture trying to sleep at night was the back of Josh Hazlewood’s shirt because he’s number 38 (laughs). It’s strange like that, isn’t it?" said Smith jokingly.
Smith eyes the milestone in Sri Lanka tour
The former captain of Australia expressed regret that he was unable to reach the milestone in front of his loved ones in Sydney, but he stated that he would like to do so in the forthcoming first Test match against Sri Lanka.
"It was probably playing on my mind more than any other game that I’ve played, to be honest. But, it is what it is, fortunately, we were able to win that game in the end, so it didn’t really matter. I’d love to tick it off on the first day in Galle. It would have been great to have been able to do it in Sydney in front of all my friends and family because you’re joining a pretty elite group there I suppose, but it wasn’t to be,” he said
