'You never know when that's going to happen, incredibly grateful for it'
Cameron Green is widely accepted as a generational talent and the Australia all-rounder provided further proof of that with his maiden Test hundred in the fourth and final Test against India on Friday.
The 23-year-old remains Australian cricket's hottest property, and its confirmation came in December's players auction for the Indian Premier League where he landed a $2.13 million deal with IPL giants Mumbai Indians.
Having missed Australia's defeats in Nagpur and Delhi in the ongoing series with a finger injury, Green made a quiet comeback in Indore where the tourists prevailed by nine wickets inside three days on a raging turner.
Green made only 21 in the only time he batted and went wicketless but his inclusion lent much-needed balance to Australia who could persist with their three-member spin attack.
The all-rounder made a bigger impact in the ongoing contest in Ahmedabad where he smashed 114, only the third century in the bowler-dominated series.
Green combined in a mammoth 208-run partnership, highest in the series from either sides, with Usman Khawaja who made 180 to help Australia post a series-high total of 480.
"You never know when that's going to happen, incredibly grateful for it," Green said of his hundred.
The right-handed batsmen said he benefitted from Khawaja's calming presence at the other end and took a leaf out of Travis Head's ploy of making the most of scoring opportunities against the new ball.
The pitch at the Narendra Modi Stadium has presented the best batting conditions in the series so far and India finished day two on 36 for no loss.
Having done his bit with the bat, Green is now preparing to contribute with the ball when play resumes on Saturday.
"It's a very good wicket. So I think you've got to maybe swallow your ego a bit."
"I think tomorrow probably it just will be a holding role for myself and let the spinners get to work."
India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who claimed 6-91, showered praise on Green.
"I hope you tuned into the IPL auction. It just tells you how the Indian cricketing fraternity rates Cameron," the off-spinner quipped.
Ashwin said Green's build and skills made him such "a fantastic player" and he praised Cricket Australia for grooming him so well.
"These are once-in-a-generation cricketers that you're talking about," Ashwin said.
"India is very different. We can't protect such players for a longer period of time, (it's) perform-or-perish.”
"In countries like Australia and England, I think these sort of cricketers are groomed pretty well and I expect Cameron Green to be a wonderful cricketer down the line."
