Australian star Steven Smith has finally found his form by scoring a memorable Test century against India in the first innings of the Brisbane Test.

After Indian captain Rohit Sharma chose to bowl first in the Brisbane Test, the hosts Australia were once struggling at 75/3 as the Indian pacers got control of the match. However, once the ball got older, Steven Smith and in-form Travis Head enjoyed the batting as the Indian bowlers had a hard day.

Smith and Head had a 241-run partnership for the third wicket, where both the batters scored valuable centuries to put the hosts into a commendable position. 

Although Smith was struggling in the initial moment, Head eased the situation by playing his natural innings. Once the ball became old, Smith confidently batted and returned to his familiar form. While he scored his first 50 runs in 128 balls, he completed his hundred in 185 balls.

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Steven Smith surpassed Steve Waugh

After failing in 24 innings, Smith finally added one Test century to his tally. His previous Test century was recorded in June 2023, when the Australian batter recorded his 32nd Test century at Lord's. 

It was Smith's 33rd Test century, which helped him to surpass the former star Steve Waugh (32 Test centuries) and climb to the second place in the list of most Test centuries by an Australian batter. Only the legendary batter Ricky Ponting is on top of him with 41 Test centuries. 

Smith equaled the record for most Test centuries against India

Also, it was Smith’s 10th Test century against India. After the English cricketer Joe Root, who already recorded 10 Test centuries against India, Smith became the second batter to record 10 Test hundreds against India. 

Smith set a new world record against India

It was Smith's 15th century in international cricket against India. With his latest hundred, Smith set a new world record for most international centuries against India. Former Australian batter Ricky Ponting previously held the record with 14 international hundreds against India.  

On this day 23 years ago, VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid stitched together a 376-run partnership that marked one of the historical moments of Indian cricket. On March 14, 2001, at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata the duo scripted an unreal fightback that laid the foundation for one of the greatest victories in the history of Test cricket.

How it all started?

After losing the first Test against Steve Waugh-led Australia, India were all set for another heartbreak in Kolkata. Australia put a mammoth 445 in the first inning and India were bowled out for a mere 171. The hosts were asked to follow on and they were soon 232/4 with Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly back to the pavilion. Rahul Dravid joined VVS Laxman and set the stage for an epic fightback.

Laxman scored 281 while Dravid played the perfect supporting role to add 181 to his name. The grit and resilience showcased by the duo changed the tone of the match in favour of the hosts. India were not just back in the game, they started showing dominance.

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Eden Test 2001 changed mindset of Indian cricket

The partnership laid the foundation for a magical spell from Harbhajan Singh that eventually saw India winning the match by 171 runs. Nobody could believe what they saw. Nobody could imagine that the match would be unfolded in such a way.

The match is significant in various ways in Indian cricket history. This was one of those matches that made Indians believe in the team India led by Sourav Ganguly. The magnitude of the Eden Test 2001 was recalled by Hemang Badani once. He tweeted in 2023, “Not many know that at the end of day 3 we had packed our suitcases, they were to be taken straight to airport and the team was to go straight to the airport from ground. And then these two batted like magicians without losing a wicket the entire day.”