Australia’s Steve Smith lighted up the SCG with his 27th Test century on day 2 of the third Test against India. He was the last man out on 131, helping Australia to 338 runs in the 1st innings.
The 31-year-old reached three figures in a Test for the first time since 2019 and in the post-day virtual press conference, dismissed talk of a form slump but credited a more positive attitude after his battling century against India in Sydney.
"I mean, it was only about three or four weeks ago that I scored two hundreds at the Sydney Cricket Ground. So yeah, it kind of just makes me laugh sometimes when people say that kind of thing.
I missed out in the first two Tests obviously and came back today and scored some runs and helped I guess put us in a decent position,” Smith said.
Smith also revealed what changes he made to his game to counter the spin of R Ashwin, who got him out twice in the previous four innings of the series. 
"I decided to be a bit more positive. I think early on I hit him (Ashwin) over his head, sort of just put a bit of pressure on him. So, yeah, it was a concerted effort to do that and I was happy with the way I played him,” Smith said.
Smith’s 27 Test ton was his first century in Australia for more than three years, including a one-year ban for ball-tampering. He was the second-fastest to reach the mark of 27 Test centuries, in his 136th innings, with Sir Don Bradman being the quickest, making 27 centuries in just 70 Test innings.
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Smith talked about getting a ton after three years in Australia and also it came at the SCG, his home ground.
"It's always special, I love playing here at the SCG, it's a great place to bat. It's my home ground and my mum and dad were here, so they were able to see that. I'm just proud to get three figures on the board and spend some time out in the middle and help us post a decent score,” Smith signed off.
(AFP inputs)
