'It is not by fluke that he is still playing' - David Warner feels Steve Smith's work ethic has made him special

David Warner heaped praise on Steve Smith after the latter registered his 35th Test century on Day 1 of the first Test between Sri Lanka and Australia at the Galle International Cricket Stadium.

The stand-in Australia skipper went past iconic cricketers, namely Sunil Gavaskar, Brian Lara, Mahela Jayawardene and Younis Khan, as he now sits on the sixth spot in the list of most centuries in the longest format.

After Smith smashed a magnificent century on a batting paradise in Galle, his former teammate David Warner lauded his incredible work ethic.

"He is an absolutely amazing cricket player and he just works hard. He literally has cricket ball sandwiches. Early in his career, he would be the first in the nets and the last in the nets. You just knew when Steve was hitting a lot of balls, he was on. It is not by fluke that he is still playing," Warner was quoted by Fox Cricket as saying.

Warner pointed out Smith's ability to bat for long durations and recalled that he was left in awe of the right-handed batter's talent when he played alongside him in the national team.

"His tenacity to bat long periods of time and get himself in and score runs for the team is amazing. Being up the other end and watching him do it with ease and have so much time, you then go back and, 'If I hit that many balls, would I have that much time?'. I don't think so. But it is his natural knack and ability to do that and churn our hundreds for fun and lots of runs for Australia," he added.

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Smith was eventually dismissed for 141 after facing 251 balls, hitting 12 boundaries and two sixes. The 35-year-old helped Australia post a massive first innings total of 654.

Smith replaced Warner as Australia's Test opener after the latter retired in January 2024. However, the Sydney-born didn't have a great time with the bat in his new role. However, after returning to his favourite No. 4 spot during the Border-Gavaskar series, Smith has once again shown why he is regarded as one of the finest batters in red-ball cricket.