Steve Smith admits 10,000 runs was on his mind in Sydney Test

“I don’t read too much into stats and stuff, but, 10,000 is a bit of a different beast,” Smith told SEN 1170 Breakfast.

“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.

“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?

“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.”

Smith, who will lead Australia in Pat Cummins absence in two-match Test series in Sri Lanka, is hoping to finish the job on Day 1 of the Galle Test.

He joined Ricky Ponting, Allan Border, and Steve Waugh in the elite club as he reached the milestone in his 203rd innings. Overall, Smith is the 15th batter to achieve the feat, first reached by Sunil Gavaskar in 1987. Incidentally, the second to reach it was Border – the two men who lend their names to this rivalry.

By doing so, Smith will became the fifth fastest all-time to reach 10,000 runs, behind Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, Kumar Sangakkara (who all incidentally took 195 innings), and Ponting (196).

“It’s pretty special. I’d love to tick it off on the first day in Galle,” Smith said.

“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.

“As a kid, I never would have dreamt of that, I dreamt to play cricket for Australia and have a career playing for Australia, but to have been able to get to this mark, it’s a dream come true in a way.”