India vs Australia: ‘My mom and dad saw me score a hundred at SCG’ - Steve Smith ‘proud’ to get back in form

Australia batsman Steve Smith said that scoring a century in his front of his parents at his home ground on Day 2 of the 3rd Test against India has been a ‘proud’ moment for him. The right-handed batsman went on to register his 27th Test ton as he helped the hosts to post 338 in the first innings at SCG.

Smith was run out by Ravindra Jadeja for 131, but he managed to beat Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar’s record. While the Aussie took 136 innings to hit his 27th ton, Kohli and Tendulkar had taken 141 innings to achieve the feat.

Smith had scored just 10 runs in 4 innings in the first two Tests and questions were being raised on his form. But after scoring the ton, the batsman said that he enjoys playing in Sydney and he feels good about getting back to form.

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“It was nice to come back in the form. It was about two-three weeks ago I think I scored two hundreds at the SCG. It sometimes makes me laugh at people. Missed out on first two matches obviously and came back today and scored some runs to put us in a decent position,” Smith said at the virtual media interaction after the end of Day 2.

“Always special, I love playing here at the SCG. It is a great place to bat, my home ground. My mom and dad were here and able to see that. Proud to get the three figures on the board and spend some time out in the middle and help us post a decent total,” he added.

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India reached 96/2 at stumps on Friday, trailing Australia by 242 runs with 8 wickets in hand. Shubman Gill gave a good start to the Indian team after the Aussies were bundled out for 338. Gill was dismissed for 50 by seamer Pat Cummins but stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane (5) and Cheteshwar Pujara (9) finished off the day without any more blemishes.

But despite India appearing to be in a strong position, Smith said that his team has enough runs and they can build pressure on the visitors on Day 3 to pick early wickets.

“It is a decent total. It would have been nice to score a few more runs. I think it is an up and down in the wicket as we have seen.

“I think the boys bowled pretty well this evening and if we continue to bowl really discipline tomorrow we gonna get some opportunities. Could have been three or four the way they bowled. Hopefully, we can start well in the morning and build some pressure,” Smith signed off.

(With ANI inputs)