Team India is set to play against Australia in the World Test Championship 2023 from Wednesday onwards at The Oval. Both of the teams arrived early in England and started their training in order to acclimatize themselves to the conditions. Ahead of the high-profile encounter, let’s talk about the two icons of both teams- Virat Kohli and Steve Smith.
India’s run machine Virat Kohli regained his form back in 2022 across all formats of the game. He has collected 1979 runs in Tests with an average of 48.26 and a strike rate of 52.25 against Australia. Steve Smith, on the other hand, has made 1887 Test runs with an average of 65.06 and a strike rate of 52.79 against India.
The former India skipper has eight Test centuries and five fifties in his kitty against the Kangaroos while Smith also has eight Test hundreds as well as five fifties against India.
The Delhi-based batter has a total of six Test tons and five half-tons in Australia while the former Australian skipper has a total of three hundreds in Test and a half-century in India. India’s batting pillar has gathered a total of 1033 Test runs with a 33.32 average with the help of two centuries and five half-centuries in England with 149 being his highest score. Smith in comparison has made 1727 test runs with an average of 59.55, including six centuries and seven half-centuries with the highest score of 215 in England.
Talking about both teams' stints, the Kangaroos ended at the top of the WTC points table with 11 wins, three defeats, and five draws in the 19 games they played. India on the contrary, concluded in the second position with 10 wins, five losses, and three draws.
Kohli has a total of 620 runs at an average of 16 innings in 15 such matches in ICC knockouts, including six half-centuries. Steve on the other side has 322 runs under his name in seven knockout innings at an average of 80.5, with a century and three fifties.