Steve Smith Set to Join 10,000-Test Run Club as Australia Faces Sri Lanka with Key Changes

Steve Smith, among the greatest cricketers to have ever played the game, is fast approaching the milestone of 10000 runs in Test cricket. With Pat Cummins out, the 35-year-old Smith will captain his team for the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka when he will have a chance to enter the elite club. He now has 9999 runs against his name in Test cricket, and it seems to be just a matter of time before he is the fourth Australian cricketer to accomplish that.

When David Warner quit Test cricket, that resulted in the promotion of Steve Smith in the Test format to open the batting. However, that move didn’t pay off for him as he was all out to get off the blocks. When he returned to bat at number four during the five-match series against India, he was still struggling. But the New South Wales-born international rose to the occasion during the tour of Australia, scoring back-to-back centuries in the third Test match in Brisbane and fourth Test in Melbourne.

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Australia, meanwhile, is looking to revamp its squad for the first Test against Sri Lanka. With Cummins and Josh Hazlewood out injured, the visitors are likely to support their spinners in Galle. Expect some changes to the batting order as well. Travis Head will be opening the batting with Usman Khawaja. Sam Konstas, who did well in India series, may drop down or even warm the bench.

Australian Players with More Than 10,000 Runs in Test Cricket

The team management will likely put their heads together to decide between Carey and Konstas. It looks likely that Josh Inglis will make his Test debut, with Australia expecting a lot of him in spin-rich conditions. In that event, either Carey or Konstas will have to sit out. 

One of the other massive challenges for Australia will be to win a test series ,they have not won it since 2016. They were swept 3-0 in 2016 while the 2022 series ended in a 1-1 draw.