Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting believes current captain Steve Smith has the potential to finish his career among the modern greats. Ponting's comments came after Smith notched up his 21st Test century on the third day of the opening Ashes Test against England at the Gabba, Brisbane. Smith's scorching century in his 57th Test match also left him with a career batting average of 61.23. And Ponting feels that the current Australian captain is completely on track to become the greatest batsman of the modern era. "Twenty-one hundreds in 57 games, he's well and truly on track to do that. When you look at the way he went about it yesterday, he was just completely unflappable. He didn't get out of his bubble at all, through the course of that innings, which says a lot about him,' ESPNcricinfo quoted Ponting, as saying.

Australia's batsman Steve Smith celebrates his 100-runs on the third day of the first cricket Ashes Test between England and Australia in Brisbane on November 25, 2017. Pic/AFP