Steve Smith Breaks 73-Year-Old Record; Becomes Fastest to 7,000 Test Runs
Steve Smith on Saturday broke a 73-year-old record by becoming the quickest to score 7,000 Test runs.
Steve Smith on Saturday broke a 73-year-old record by becoming the quickest to score 7,000 Test runs. England great Wally Hammond had set the record in 1946 with Australian Smith surpassing him as he also became the 11th highest score in the format from his country, overtaking legendary Don Bradman.
With a single off Pakistan bowler Muhammad Musa in the ongoing second Test at the Adelaide Oval, Smith set a new record for reaching 7,000 runs in Test cricket in just his 126th innings. Hammond did that in 131 innings.
Virender Sehwag is now the third quickest, taking 134 innings.
| S. no | Name | Country | Innings |
| 1 | Steve Smith | Australia | 126 |
| 2 | Wally Hammond | England | 131 |
| 3 | Virender Sehwag | India | 134 |
| 4 | Sachin Tendulkar | India | 136 |
| 5 | Gary Sobers | West Indies | 138 |
| Kumar Sangakkara | Sri Lanka | 138 | |
| Virat Kohli | India | 138 |
Top-five quickest to 7,000 Test runs (in terms of innings taken)
Since returning to Test cricket after serving a year-long ball-tampering ban, the 30-year-old Smith has been in unreal form. The Ashes series in England, that ended 2-all, saw him plunder 774 runs across seven innings. This was after he missed a Test and an innings after being diagnosed with concussion.
Smith could have overtaken Hammond in the first Test in Brisbane but he was dismissed on 4, a rare failure for someone who is now widely considered as the modern day Bradman.
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