Australian batting mainstay Steve Smith always knew that he was “out of runs” but never “out of form” as he got back-to-back Test hundreds against India within a week of each other after 18 months of lull.

Having scored his 33rd ton in Brisbane, Smith equalled Sunil Gavaskar’s then world record of 34 hundreds on the second day of the fourth Test at the MCG on Friday. The Indian great was once the world’s leading century-maker.