With a bit of luck and lots of faith, you can get big runs: Steve Smith

After scoring his 34th ton, Aussie batting star reveals secret to getting over a dry run of Test centuries

Melbourne: You are one of the best batters on the planet and then, the centuries dry up. That’s how fickle form can sometimes be. Before coming into the series against India, Steve Smith last got a century against England in June 2023 and for a man who averages close to 60, this was an aberration. Now, he’s got two in two Tests.

Australia's Steve Smith raises his bat as he celebrates after scoring his century on Friday. (AP)

But how do the greats counter such a drought? Do they test you at many levels?

“I mean, you’ve got to have faith,” said Smith at close of play on Day 2 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. “You’ve got to have a bit of trust in what you’re trying to do. I’ve played the game for long enough now to know that you can have your ups and downs.

“And there’s a difference, I think, between being out of form and out of runs. I thought I was hitting the ball nicely. I think you need a lot of luck on these wickets to get big runs as well, the ones we’re playing at the moment. And last week I had my fair share. I think I got an umpire’s call and got beaten on numerous occasions when on other days I’d nick it. So, yeah, you need a bit of luck. But you’ve just got to have faith that you’re going to turn it around.”

Indian great Virat Kohli has been stuck in the same boat as Smith. Perhaps he was there way before Smith but on Friday, he looked like he was in the zone. He didn’t have the luck though. A “masterclass” was nipped in the bud.

“I thought we were in for a bit of a masterclass there,” said Smith. “But fortunately, you know, (Scott) Boland got one to sort of straighten off the line on that 5th-6th stump and it was one of the only ones he played at. So, I was fortunate to catch the edge.”

Batting is changing

Kohli and Smith are greats from another generation. They learnt their cricket in the pre-T20 era. Compared to how they do things, the younger generation, Sam Konstas and Yashasvi Jaiswal, do things very differently.

“As we saw yesterday, he was reverse ramping Bumrah and I was having a heart attack up in the (viewing) box,” said Smith while laughing.

But what feels risky to many commentators are just shots that the youngsters have a lot of confidence in. As Konstas said: “I reckon 20 or 30 years ago people were probably saying defend a lot, just bat all day. But I think new generation, new shots.”

Smith could only shake his head at those words: “If that’s the future, maybe it’s time for me to finish.”

But what Smith did acknowledge was that Konstas’s knock gave them some proper momentum. “You’ve got to have some serious courage to do what he did yesterday,” said Smith. “That first over, Bumrah beat him three or four times and bowled some really nice balls. I actually thought he (Konstas) played them really well; he played down the line and they just did too much and they beat the outside edge.”