Another similar boundary came on the next ball in the following over when he tapped R Ashwin on the leg side for his eighth Test century. Arms were raised and the first recognition went to his family, including his newborn son, in the stands before the typical helmet-on-bat celebration as he accepted the ovation from a 51,642-strong home crowd.

It was the third time he enjoyed a Test century at the ground against the West Indies in the last two seasons. “A home friendly is something very special. I can’t quite believe I was able to do it three times in a row,” he said.

India will also have had the feeling that it had been here before. This appears to be the third game of great significance that Head has defined against India. He scored a rousing 163 off 174 balls in last year’s World Test Championship final at The Oval and then broke the hearts of a nation a few months later with a stunning performance in the ODI World Cup final.

Head’s story against India sets interesting milestones in his career.

In the 2018-19 season, he scored 72 in just his third Test in Adelaide as India narrowly prevailed, before scoring another half-century in Perth, where he was twice caught in the deep third as he played the kind of attacking Played cricket, which is now his trademark -up, but at the time it didn’t seem to come naturally in the Test field.

During the 2020-21 visit to India, Head’s career briefly hit a snag when he was dropped after two Tests. In the end his absence only lasted two games and he was back for the start of the Ashes the following summer. He has since averaged 45.20 at a strike rate of 79.68, instilled by the belief, confidence and support to play in the style that was so evident in that innings. Of the 44 players to score at least 1,000 runs during this period, only two Bazballers – Ben Duckett and Harry Brook – and Rishabh Pant have a higher strike rate than Head.

While not crucial to the title, it had similar significance for Australia after the heavy defeat in the opening Test in Perth, where Head’s 89th innings provided a rare bright spot in the second innings.

On the second day in Adelaide, Australia were in danger of reeling when they headed for the crease after Nathan McSweeney was caught behind by Jasprit Bumrah after adding just one goal to his overnight tally, and Steven Smith hit the same bowler on the leg side threw along.

India were not quite back in the game at 103 for 3, but one or two more wickets would have quickly changed that. At this point Australia had a score of 2.57. Instead, Head produced such a dominant performance that it was difficult for India to see a way back after his exit, even before they had lost five wickets in the final session.