Australia premier batsman Steve Smith got his form back with a scintillating century against India on Day 2 of the Sydney Test. Smith, who struggled to score runs in the first two matches, took full control of the innings in the third Test. India’s ace off-spinner Ravichandran troubled Smith in the series earlier and dismissed him twice in earlier matches, but the premier batsman gave him no chance in Sydney and scored a fluent 131.
Smith said faster footwork along with the tactic of attacking Ashwin straightaway worked in his favour as he was happy with the play he played the ace spinner.
“I decided to be a bit more positive. I think early on, I hit him over his head, just put a bit of pressure on him so that he bowls where I wanted him to bowl. It was a concerted effort to do that and I was happy with the way I played him,” Ashwin said during a virtual press conference.
Smith also said that he did not change his technique against the fast bowlers but was “just being faster on his feet particularly against the spin”.
“In this game, I was probably a little more aggressive early and tried to put it back on the bowler a little bit more.
“I got off to a nice start, I was almost run-a-ball 20. So (I) got myself going and got into my innings and then you just have to play the game, absorb pressure when you need to, put pressure on when you need to and I did that pretty well in this innings,” he added.
Smith was in a humorous mood as he took a cheeky dig on his critics who were pointed figures on him despite slamming two 60-odd ball hundreds in the ODIs against India
“…I have read a lot of things as I think I have said numerous time and plenty of people said I was out of form, so it was nice to come back I guess in the form, if that’s what you want to call it,” Smith said.
“It was only two or three weeks ago when I scored two hundreds at the SCG. It kind of makes me laugh sometimes when people say that kind of things,” the anger was palpable.
“(I) missed out on the first two Test matches obviously, come-back today and scored some few runs and help I guess put us in a decent position, the 31-year-old added.
Smith feels that Australia are in a good place in the Test match with India losing their openers on Day 2.
“I think it’s a decent total. It would have been nice to score a few more. You always want more. It’s a bit up and down the wicket.
“The boys bowled pretty well this evening and if continue to bowl really disciplined tomorrow, I think we are going to get some opportunities, could have easily been three or four tonight the way that the boys went about it, but I think we are in good place, start well in the morning and build some pressure and see how it goes,” he said.
Smith further talked about scoring runs at his home-turf Sydney Cricket Ground in front of his parents who are also present in the stands on Day 2
“Always special. I love playing here at the SCG. It’s a great place to bat. My home ground and I think my mum and dad were here so they were able to see that.
“Just proud to get three figures on the board and just spend some time out in the middle and help us post a decent score. It would have been nice for us to score a few more but we’ve still got some runs on the board on wicket that is little-bit bit up and down,” he added.