Smith best since Bradman: Ponting

Smith’s phenomenal deeds with the bat have been lauded repeatedly and after the right-hander scored his 18th hundred in just 51 Tests, an unprecedented five straight tons against India, he propelled his ICC rankings points to 933 – the sixth-highest of any batsman in history. 

The hundred also put Smith just 112 runs short of becoming the equal third-fastest ever to 5000 runs, a feat he could achieve in the second Test in Bangalore. 

Presently, he has 4888 runs from 94 innings, meaning if he was to post the required 112 in the first innings in Bangalore he would be level with legends Sir Garfield Sobers, Sunil Gavaskar, Sir Viv Richards and Matthew Hayden, and behind only Sir Donald Bradman (56 innings) and Sir Jack Hobbs (91 innings) as the fastest to the significant milestone. 

“If Smithy keeps maintaining what he’s doing now for another 100 Tests then he probably will end up being a better player than me,” Ponting said. 

“I know he’s got great passion and got great drive to be the best player he can be and probably the best player the world has ever seen, which is a great attitude to have. 

“I wanted to be the best player in the world as well and I wanted to be able to sustain it for a long period of time,” the former Australian skipper added.