Smith couldn't wait a ball longer for 10,000 - his 35th ton reaffirmed his enduring greatness

Steve Smith could not wait one ball longer.

24 days on the cusp of a milestone will do that to the most patient of batters let alone one as notoriously fidgety and twitchy as Smith.

First ball in Galle he hustled down the track, clipped a ball to mid-on and scrambled through for a single.

Given how peculiar it was, the celebration was muted even containing the hint of an embarrassed smile.

But the milestone was immense and thankfully there were a good few Australians in front of the fort to mark the moment.

A single run but a giant landmark.

10,000 runs.

And Smith didn’t waste the occasion… raising the bat 56 balls later for the fastest half-century of his Test career.

Then before rain stopped play, he danced his way to his 35th Test century.

His third in four Tests confirming the renaissance phase of his career… something that plays so well for a storied veteran in any sport as it allows us to savour and appreciate what he is and what he’s been before he’s gone.

10,000 is the threshold of enduring greatness… defining proof of excellence and longevity.

A player amusingly miscast as a podgy leg-spinner… who blossomed into the defining batter of his generation.

His legacy of runs conjured with a unique homespun technique that at times couldn’t be countered or curbed. It was a style you wouldn’t dare teach… in fact, coaches would have actively discouraged.

Movements that conned the bowler he was through while in fact being lured into Smith’s zone.

It relied on the eye of a dead fish and the hands of a magician.

English attacks virtually surrendered at the futility of getting him out.

He conquered Indian attacks at length both home and away.

Last night was his sixth century in the subcontinent, with eight in England and tons in South Africa, West Indies, and New Zealand.

Smith hasn’t played through a golden generation but has been his team's irresistible force on which so much of its success has been built.

He’s not one to be emulated but rather admired, and a place alongside Allan Border, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting enshrines Steve Smith’s legend.

History weighed heavily over Australia’s exploits on the first day in Galle.

Usman Khawaja became the oldest Australian batter since Steve Waugh to make a Test century.

He joined Allan Border as the only Australian to post tons in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

A century in Dubai completes Khawaja’s unique quaddie.

I recall touring India in 2017 when Khawaja couldn’t get a game… he was marked as a batter deficient against spin but was utterly determined to alter that perception.

Now his reverse sweep is the most supple and secure stroke in cricket and five of his seven away centuries have been in Asia.

There were times in the home summer when the 38-year-old opener looked gone… but as one insider noted, everyone looked gone against Jasprit Bumrah.

So what unfolded was a triumph not only for the veteran but vindication of selection and strategy.

Not deviating from the long-term plan of opening with Travis Head and Khawaja has Australia in a commanding position.

Head set the tone… Khawaja stayed the course.

We noted yesterday – the selector’s decision to keep their powder dry on Sam Konstas was unpopular… but it was right for the task at hand.