Former Sri Lankan Skipper Mahela Jayawardene became the first player of his country to go past the magical 10,000 run-mark in Test Cricket. He now is the 9th player overall in the history to achieve this wonderful feat which speaks of a batsman's immense talent with consistency and longevity. During the first day's play in the Boxing Day Test at Kingsmead in Durban, Mahela Jayawardene achieved this landmark. Ironically, in the previous Test of the same series, Mahela Jayawardene ran himself out on a career tally of 9999 runs!
The 34-year-old Mahela Jayawardene has played 127 Tests so far having made his debut against India in 1997. Initially bursting into the scene as a gifted strokeplayer, Mahela has transformed into a heavy run machine for his country especially at home. His highest Test score is a massive 374 which he scored against South Africa. Jayawardene has scored 29 '100s' and 40 '50s' till date in his Test career. In the ODI format, also Jayawardene had gone past the 10k run-mark. The only other Sri Lankan coming closer to the 10,000 runs feat in Test Cricket is former Skipper Kumar Sangakkara who needs a little over 800 runs to reach there.
Here is the list of players who have scored more than 10,000 runs in Test Cricket :
- Sachin Tendulkar (India) Tests : 185* Runs : 15183
- Rahul Dravid (ICC/India) Tests : 161* Runs : 13094
- Ricky Ponting (Australia) Tests : 159* Runs : 12718
- Jacques Kallis (ICC/South Africa) Tests : 149* Runs : 12036
- Brian Lara (ICC/West Indies) Tests : 131 Runs : 11953
- Allan Border (Australia) Tests : 156 Runs : 11174
- Steve Waugh (Australia) Tests : 168 Runs : 10927
- Sunil Gavaskar (India) Tests : 125 Runs : 10122
- Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka) Tests : 127* Runs : 10030
