Australia's Steve Smith on Wednesday joined a select group of batsmen to reach 10,000 career Test runs during the first morning of the opening Test against Sri Lanka.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Smith started the match on 9,999 runs and on his first ball pushed for a single off Prabath Jayasuriya in Galle to be the 15th Test batsman and fourth Australian to the milestone.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The stand-in skipper raised his bat to acknowledge the applause from the crowd.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The 35-year-old joined fellow Australians Ricky Ponting, Allan Border and Steve Waugh in a list led by India's Sachin Tendulkar, who made 15,921 runs in his red-ball career.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar was the first to cross 10,000 runs in Test cricket when he achieved the feat against Pakistan in 1987 at Ahmedabad.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Smith is leading Australia in the two-match series after regular captain Pat Cummins opted out due to the birth of his second child.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
He has an impressive average of more than 55 across 114 prior Tests, including 34 centuries since his 2010 debut.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Smith started as a leg-spinner who batted at number eight but soon rose to become the number one Test batter and captain of Australia.<\/p>\r\n\r\n