Smith snaps century drought with crucial Gabba ton

Steve Smith never lost faith in cricket or his ability to find a way to triumph in it again.

Australia's finest batsman since Don Bradman, Smith finally reigned supreme again on Sunday when he ended the longest century-drought of his career against India.

In an innings that could have serious ramifications for both his career and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Smith hit a superb 101 at the Gabba.

It helped Australia to a position of power, at 7-405 by stumps on day two after a 241-run stand with the counter-attacking Travis Head.

His 33rd Test century took him past Steve Waugh for the second most of any Australian in history, and edged him within 195 runs of 10,000 in his Test career.

But importantly for Smith, it also ended a run of 24 innings without a Test century, spanning almost 18 months.

In that time Smith had gone from No.4 to opener and back again, before making scores of 0, 17 and 2 to start the summer.

"I love batting and I hate getting out," Smith said on Sunday.

"But I have played long enough to know the game turns on itself.

"If you go through a period where you're not having much luck ...you have to keep the faith and know that things will turn around if you keep doing the hard work.

"I have been putting the hard work in. I rode my luck today, I had a bit early on for sure, got beaten a few times which will happen on that wicket.

"I have been feeling good. It was just about getting into my work."

Sunday's innings had the hallmarks of peak Smith, after surviving a few early chances and a tight lbw call.

After coming to the crease when two quick Jasprit Bumrah wickets left Australia 2-38, he first stabilised the innings before coming into his own.

Just as he so often does when he is batting at his best, Smith was able to pull with power in front of square leg and play his on-drive with comfort.

The majestic cover drive was also back, with two superb shots going to the boundary off Nitish Kumar Reddy and old nemesis Ravindra Jadeja after tea.

The customary two arms in the air also returned upon his century, along with the usual celebratory swipe of the bat that came with a little more vigour this time.

Notable too, was the element of Smith the problem solver, with the 35-year-old batting further out of his crease than normal and changing his trigger movement between Tests to stop closing himself off.

"I've been doing it for so long. If I want to change a few different things, it doesn't take me long to do it," Smith said.

"Sometimes I do it in the middle of an innings.

"That's part of adapting to situations and scenarios that are put in front of you and having the confidence to do it.

"I've changed my setup pretty much every game I've played for the last 15 years. I try to adapt, figure the best way to play for each surface that I'm facing."