This was a red-letter day for Adelaide-born Head as he scored a stunning century in front of a packed crowd on familiar territory.

It was a buccaneering innings full of trademark shots square of the wicket as he cut, dabbed, pulled and effortlessly flicked his way to three figures.

In fact 113 of his runs came either side of the stumps as India’s bowlers fed two of his strongest scoring areas.

There were, however, occasional moments of good fortune during a knock which was completely out of kilter with the way most of Australia’s players have approached this match.

Head smashed Ravichandran Ashwin for a towering six straight down the ground in the 68th over, then attempted to do it again next ball but hit it skywards, only for Siraj to shell a diving catch.

He was on 76 at the time and Australia’s position in this Test match might not look so rosy had that chance been held.

It is one of Head’s strongest qualities, though, that such moments do not faze him, and he continued in a cavalier vein for the remainder of his time at the crease.

He brought up his century with a nudge into the leg-side off Siraj, reaching the milestone off 111 deliveries, celebrating by rocking his bat in a nod to his newborn son before saluting the crowd.

There is certainly something about batting on home turf which appeals to the South Australian. He has scored 634 runs in nine Test innings at the Adelaide Oval, with three centuries.

At 79.25 that is nearly double his career Test average of 41.96.

The 30-year-old whipped Siraj stylishly off his legs for six to reach 140 off as many deliveries, before he was finally undone a ball later when the India seamer yorked him.

There was then a terse verbal exchange with Siraj who, rather bizarrely given India’s predicament, opted to give Head a send-off. The Aussie batter lingered for a moment, giving as good as he got before walking off.