Three of Steve Smith’s four Test hundreds have come in the past 12 months and the 25-year-old’s rise as an international cricketer has continued with his maiden century at one-day international level.

Smith’s 101 in Australia’s one-dayer against Pakistan in Sharjah on Tuesday followed Aaron Finch’s dismissal from the first ball of the series. The pressure was intense and for Smith, the more the better.

The energetic right-hander says he wants to make the No.3 batting role his own, with a World Cup around the corner on home soil in February 2015.

“He’s just getting better and better as a player,” Smith’s NSW and Australia teammate Brad Haddin told reporters on Thursday.

“He feels a lot more confident at Australian level now.”

Australia vice-captain Haddin says the quietly spoken Smith is embracing his more-senior role within the side.

“He came in second ball of the game,” Haddin said.

“I think it’s the third time he’s batted at number three.

“It’s the manner in which he’s getting them. He’s scoring them under pressure and that shows the sign of a pretty good character.”

Smith described the hot conditions in Sharjah as remarkable and added he’d never changed gloves at such regular intervals during an innings.

The heat was also on Smith in a mental sense, but one of Australia’s leading players against spin is embracing the challenge of playing on turning pitches in the UAE.

“I’ve always said I like batting at number three and I want to take my opportunities there,” Smith said on Tuesday night.

“Hopefully today’s just the start of that. Hopefully there’s a few more big scores in this series.”

STEVE SMITH’S ODI PERFORMANCES

* ODI record: 578 runs at 24.08 including one century in 39 matches

* Record batting at No.3: 147 runs at 49.00 including one century in 3 matches.

IMPROVEMENT AT TEST LEVEL:

* Test record: 1361 runs at 40.02 in 20 matches including 4 hundreds

* In past 12 months: 596 at 49.66 including 3 hundreds in 8 matches v England, South Africa