Steve Smith 'hurt' after missing 'cool milestone' by one run vs India in Sydney

Steve Smith scored 314 runs in the recently concluded five-match Test series against India to end as the third-highest run-scorer of the series. Even then, he might have hoped to score at least one run more to sign off from the Test series. What difference would it've made? 314 runs would've become 315. But in the larger context, Smith would've completed 10000 runs in his already illustrious Test career.

He is currently stranded on 9999 runs at the moment and admits to having a bit hurt after being dismissed in the second innings of the Sydney Test for a low score. He needed only five runs to touch the magical mark of 10,000 runs in the longest format but could muster only four runs before getting out to Prasidh Krishna.

"One run. it hurt a little bit at the time. It would have been nice to have ticked that off in front of all my friends and family here at my home ground, but hopefully, I can knock it off first thing in Galle (Sri Lanka, first Test). I probably let it wander (in my mind) too much throughout the game. It's a cool milestone to tick off," Smith told Sydney Morning Herald.

He has been named the stand-in captain for the Sri Lanka tour and will be extremely eager to knock off that first run in the opening Test which is scheduled to get underway on January 29 in Galle. Smith will finally lead Australia in an entire series for the first time since 2017 when he was stripped of the leadership role and also banned for a year for his role in Sandpaper Gate. There has been criticism over his return to captaincy but Smith is 'comfortable in his own space' at the moment.

"I mean, everyone's entitled to their opinion. They can say whatever they like. I'm pretty comfortable in my own skin. (The environment) around the team has been good for a long time. I get on well with everyone inside. People are entitled to their opinion. They can say what they want," Smith added.