Coming into the third Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25, the former Australian captain, Steve Smith, was under some real pressure and faced a lot of criticism having not being consistent in scoring runs. In the first innings of the opening Perth Test, the right-handed batter got an in-swinging jaffa from Jasprit Bumrah to record his maiden golden ducks in ten years.
The same issue continued for the next two innings. When he walked out to bat, the home side was under a little bit of pressure, having lost both of their overnight opening batters, Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney, before he saw his crime partner, Marnus Labuschagne, chasing a wide delivery to slip the slip fielder.
Akash Deep went past the outside edge of Steve Smith multiple times in the first innings at the Gabba, while he was seen to bring a change in his batting technique, where his backfoot was going towards the off-stump to cut the shape of the bowlers, especially Bumrah.
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Since the Lord’s Test in the Ashes 2023, Steve Smith had not scored any century in the longest format, and at his age, questions started to arise. But he found Travis Head at the other end, who, with some of his aggressive shots, soaked the pressure to provide a free space to the New South Wales batter.
Steve Smith explains his emotional celebration after the 33rd Test century
It was just the portray mode of how this same pair saved Australia from the early trouble of the World Test Championship final of the 2021-23 at the Kennington Oval in London, where both of them managed to celebrate their respective centuries under difficult circumstances.
At the Gabba, they put up a 241-run stand for the fourth wickets in around 50 overs to snatch the entire momentum from the visiting side, as Steve Smith broke the century drought with a 101-run knock to go past the former captain of the side, Steve Waugh with 33 Test centuries and sits only behind Ricky Ponting (41).
“I had a great seat in the house to watch Travis bat. Travis is consistently performing well. It’s incredible how he puts pressure on bowlers. Unbelievable batting. It’s tough to place fielders for him.” The veteran addressed at the press conference at the end of the second day’s play.
Steve Smith averaged over 61 against India in the longest format of the game with 2162 runs in 41 innings with the help of ten centuries and five half-centuries at the best score of 192 at the MCG in 2014. Head, across formats since 2023, has started to terrorize the Indian bowling line-up.
“We don’t say much to each other out there. He just says, ‘Do your thing.’ I say, ‘Do your thing,’ and we move on. It was cool to witness that again. He’s a special player right now.” He claimed.
Steve Smith broke down the emotional celebration having noted the questions he has faced for following the technique for 15 years, collecting so much success.
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“It was nice to reach three figures. It’s been a while. It’s good to contribute today. The last few games have been tricky. I’ve faced good balls and been caught down the leg side. I’ve been trusting myself and got some luck early on.” The 35-year-old highlighted.
“I’ve been changing my setup every game for the last 15 years. So it’s nothing new. This was a bouncy track, so I was standing outside the crease, keeping my left leg open. I had some luck early on, which you need on these surfaces.” He concluded by shedding light on the tweak he made.
