Sydney: Faster footwork along with the tactic of attacking Ravichandran Ashwin straightaway worked wonders for him during his first century on home soil in three years, Australian batsman Steve Smith said Friday.
Having just managed to score only 10 runs in the first Two Tests, Smith roared back to form as his 131, single-handedly steered Australia to 338, their first innings total, despite a middle-order failure.
“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 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.
The sarcasm wasn’t lost on anyone when he said that it was nice to be back in form even though he had scored two 60-odd ball hundreds in the ODIs.
“…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.
According to Smith, the total put up by Australia is a decent one, though they would have liked to score a few more runs.
“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 also said it was always a special feeling to score hundreds at the Sydney Cricket Ground, his home-turf.
“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.
The third day of the third test will be aired on Sony Ten 1, Sony Ten 3 and Sony Six, January 9 from 4.15 AM onwards.
PTI