Statsman: Smith continues to break records against India, ties with Ponting and Root

His century in the WTC Final helped him climb atop the list of players with most centuries against India, 9 in Tests and 5 in ODIs.

Dual advantage: Steve Smith and Travis Head combined to take the game away from India. | Photo Credit: Reuters

14 The maximum number of international centuries, across formats, made against India by an opponent batter. Steve Smith’s recent three-figure score in the WTC Oval final equalled this record held by former teammate Ricky Ponting. Smith, meanwhile, registered his ninth Test century against India, which equals the record tally held by England’s Joe Root. The second table has the details.

Batters with most international centuries against India

									International 100s
100s	Batter	For	Mts	Inns	Runs	Ave.	HS		Tests	ODIs	T20Is
14	Ricky Ponting	Aus	89	111	4795	47.00	257		8	6	0
14	Steve Smith	Aus	52	66	3345	56.69	192		9	5	0
12	Joe Root	Eng	53	70	3426	56.16	218		9	3	0
11	Viv Richards	WI	59	67	2924	49.55	192*		8	3	0
11	Kumar Sangakkara	SL	97	103	4287	44.19	219		5	6	0
10	Sanath Jayasuriya	SL	103	105	3927	40.07	340		3	7	0
10	Mahela Jayawardene	SL	110	117	4563	42.25	275		6	4	0

Batters with most Test centuries against India

100s	Batter	For	Mts	Inns	Runs	Ave.	HS
9	Joe Root	Eng	25	45	2526	63.15	218
9	Steve Smith	Aus	19	37	2042	65.87	192
8	Garry Sobers	WI	18	30	1920	83.48	198
8	Viv Richards	WI	28	41	1927	50.71	192*
8	Ricky Ponting	Aus	29	51	2555	54.36	257

12 The number of batters who have made 31 or more centuries during their Test career. In the recent Oval Test match, Steve Smith became the latest to do so. By reaching the 31st century in 170 innings, he has become the second quickest, behind India’s Sachin Tendulkar, to get this landmark in fewest innings. However, Smith is the only batter to do so in less than 100 Test matches — in 97 Tests.

Quickest to reach 31st Test century in fewest innings

Inns	Mts	Batter	For	Runs	Ave.	50s	Achieved on
165	103	Sachin Tendulkar	Ind	8711	58.46	34	2 Nov 2002
170	97	Steve Smith	Aus	8913	60.22	37	8 Jun 2023
174	104	Ricky Ponting	Aus	8740	58.27	33	13 Apr 2006
184	103	Younis Khan	Pak	9071	54.32	30	25 Oct 2015
192	110	Sunil Gavaskar	Ind	9006	51.17	39	17 Dec 1985

8 The number of batters who have aggregated 2000 or more runs against India, during their Test career. In the Oval Test match, Steve Smith became the latest to do so. By reaching the 2000th run in 36 innings, he has become the second quickest, behind Pakistan’s Javed Miandad, to get this landmark in fewest innings. However, Smith is the only batter to do so in less than 20 Test matches — in 19 Tests.

Quickest to aggregate 2000 Test runs against India in fewest innings

Inns	Mts	Batter	For	Runs	Ave	100s	50s	HS	Achieved on
35	25	Javed Miandad	Pak	2027	69.90	4	14	280*	15 Nov 1989
36	19	Steve Smith	Aus	2008	66.93	9	5	192	8 Jun 2023
39	25	Clive Lloyd	WI	2042	55.19	6	11	242*	12 Nov 1983
39	22	Joe Root	Eng	2142	61.20	7	10	218	13 Aug 2021
39	22	Michael Clarke	Aus	2042	55.19	7	6	329*	10 Dec 2014

1 The number of batters to register a 150+ score in an ICC event final. Travis Head’s 163 in the recent Oval Test is the highest in any ICC final across formats. Previously Adam Gilchrist made 149 in the CWC final in 2007.

Highest individual scores in a final at an ICC event

Runs	Batter	For	Agst	Venue	Date	Rslt	Event	Format
163	Travis Head	Aus	Ind	The Oval	8 June 2023	Won	WTC final	Test
149	Adam Gilchrist	Aus	SL	Bridgetown	28 Apr 2007	Won	CWC final	ODI
140*	Ricky Ponting	Aus	Ind	Johannesburg	23 Mar 2003	Won	CWC final	ODI
138*	Viv Richards	WI	Eng	Lord’s	23 Jun 1979	Won	CWC final	ODI
121	Steve Smith	Aus	Ind	The Oval	8 June 2023	Won	WTC final	Test
117	Saurav Ganguly	Ind	NZ	Nairobi	15 Oct 2000	Lost	CT final	ODI

0 The number of occasions a Test match was played at The Oval, London, before the month of July. The WTC final was thus the earliest start to a Test match at this venue since the first Test was played here in September 1880, 143 years ago. The earliest start before this Test was on 8 July 1982, when India played England. The Test ended in a draw. The table below summarises month-wise starts to the 105 Oval Tests.

Monthwise start of the 105 Test matches at the Oval

Tests	Month
1	June (The 2023 WTC final on 7 June)
8	in July
88	in August
8	in September

2 The number of occasions a three-figure score has been registered in a WTC final. In the recent Oval WTC final, Travis Head and Steve Smith did this for the first time. India’s Ajinkya Rahane’s 89 is now the third-highest score behind Head and Smith in a WTC final. The second table lists all the highest scores by Indians in a WTC final.

Highest individual scores (of 50 or more) in the WTC final

Runs	Batter	For	Agst	Venue	Month, year	Result
163	Travis Head	Aus	Ind	The Oval	June 2023	Won
121	Steve Smith	Aus	Ind	The Oval	June 2023	Won
89	Ajinkya Rahane	Ind	Aus	The Oval	June 2023	Lost
66*	Alex Carey	Aus	Ind	The Oval	June 2023	Won
54	Devon Conway	NZ	Ind	Southampton	June 2021	Won
52*	Kane Williamson	NZ	Ind	Southampton	June 2021	Won
51	Shardul Thakur	Ind	Aus	The Oval	June 2023	Lost

Highest scores for India in a WTC final

Runs	Batter	Agst	Venue	Month, year	Result
89	Ajinkya Rahane	Aus	The Oval	June 2023	Lost
51	Shardul Thakur	Aus	The Oval	June 2023	Lost
49	Ajinkya Rahane	NZ	Southampton	June 2021	Lost
49	Virat Kohli	Aus	The Oval	June 2023	Lost
48	Ravindra Jadeja	Aus	The Oval	June 2023	Lost

3 The number of occasions a 150-plus score has been registered by an Australian batter while playing at a neutral Test venue. Head’s 163 failed narrowly to surpass the highest by an Aussie, which remains the 164 by Warren Bardsley against South Africa at Lord’s in 1912.

Highest Test score by Australian batters at a neutral venue

Runs	Batter	Minn	Against	Venue	Month, Year	Result
164	Warren Bardsley	2	South Africa	Lord’s	16 Jul 1912	Won
163	Travis Head	1	India	The Oval	7 Jun 2023	Won
150	Ricky Ponting	1	Pakistan	Sharjah	19 Oct 2002	Won
141	Ricky Ponting	1	Pakistan	Colombo (PSS)	3 Oct 2002	Won
141	Usman Khawaja	4	Pakistan	Dubai	11 Oct 2018	Drawn

41 The number of fielders to claim 100 or more catches in Test cricket. India’s Ajinkya Rahane became the latest and the seventh Indian to achieve this feat in Tests. In reaching this landmark in his 83rd match, Rahane is the 15th quickest to do so in the fewest Tests. Among Indians, only Rahul Dravid has done it quicker in 79 Tests.

Quickest to reach 100 Test catches in fewest matches for India

Tests to 100 catches	Fielder	Career catches	Achieved against	Venue	Month, year
79	Rahul Dravid	209	Aus	Bangalore	Oct 2004
83	Ajinkya Rahane	100	Aus	The Oval	June 2023
91	Mohd Azharuddin	105	Aus	Bangalore	Mar 1998
95	VVS Laxman	135	SL	Galle	Aug 2008
99	Virat Kohli	110	SAf	Cape Town	Jan 2022

All records are correct and updated until 17 June 2023