Melbourne, Dec 27 (Reporter) Australia batter Steve Smith believes he never lost form despite a recent lean patch and always kept faith that the runs would come back prior to re-confirming himself as a modern-day great with his 34th Test century during the Boxing Day Test against India. It was Smith's 11th Test century against India - the most by any player - and his innings of 140 has put Australia in a strong position after two days of the ICC World Test Championship contest, according to an ICC report. The innings sees Smith rise to seventh on the list for most Test centuries, with England veteran Joe Root (36) the only current player ahead of him in a star-studded list of batters in the longest format. Most centuries - Men's Tests Sachin Tendulkar (India) 51 Jacques Kallis (South Africa) 45 Ricky Ponting (Australia) 41 Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) 38 Joe Root (England) 36 Rahul Dravid (India) 36 Younis Khan (Pakistan) 34 Sunil Gavaskar (India) 34 Brian Lara (West Indies) 34 Mahela Jayawardena (Sri Lanka) 34 Steve Smith (Australia) 34 Despite the feat, Smith said after play on Friday that he is not motivated by the number of centuries he contributes and only plays to help his side win Test matches. "I love playing and I love scoring runs and helping the team," Smith said. "To get some milestones along the way is cool, but it’s not the reason I play." Smith's effort at the MCG was his second century on the trot, following his innings of 101 against India during the third Test of this series at the Gabba. Smith said he always kept faith that the runs would come, even during his century drought. "I have played the game long enough to know that you can have your ups and downs," Smith said. "There is a difference between being out of form and out of runs and I thought I was hitting the ball nicely. “You got to have faith that you are going to turn it around and just trust the processes.” It now means only one Australian player has more Test centuries than Smith, with former captain Ricky Ponting (41) now just seven tons ahead of the right-hander in outright third place for most Test hundreds...////...