Australia and India went toe to toe with each other especially on the final day of the game. When the hosts set up a target of 407, Team India responded quite well from the word go. Indian opening pair Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill once again added a good partnership to lay a solid platform.

Rohit and Gill added a 71-run stand before Gill was dismissed on 31. Rohit scored a brilliant fifty and was dismissed on 52 off Pat Cummins’ bowling. The visitors stepped out to bat on the Day 5 with 98 for the loss of 2 wickets.

While Nathan Lyon got rid of stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane early on in the game, Cheteshwar Pujara and Rishabh Pant took the game away from the Aussies. The duo stitched together a valuable 148-run partnership for the fourth wicket.

While things were moving smoothly for the visitors, off-spinner Lyon once again provided a much-needed breakthrough by removing the wicketkeeper-batsman Pant.

Pant missed out on a well-deserved century by just 3 runs. After he got out, India lost dependable No.3 batsman as he was clean bowled by Josh Hazlewood.

Smith removes Pant’s guard

Former Australian captain Steve Smith came under fire for intentionally removing Rishabh Pant’s guard during the third Test match at Sydney Cricket Ground. While Pant was batting extremely well during the game, Smith pulled off dirty antics by removing Pant’s guard during the overs.

The video of the same is doing the rounds on social media platforms.

Steve Smith is a Born Cheater #INDvAUS
pic.twitter.com/QDsrRYMclm

— Sumit Kadel (@SumitkadeI) January 11, 2021

Team india shud go thro rule book and report to authorities about Steve Smith playing cheat and scuffing guard mark of pant. @ajinkyarahane88 @imVkohli let's make issue out of it.

— durgesh kaushik (@durgeshkaushik) January 11, 2021

After looking at Smith erasing Pant’s batting Guard does he seriously deserve what Virat did for him in World Cup 2019. From outside they try to show their love for India but time to time they prove that they are Bloody Cheater Australians. @bhogleharsha @joybhattacharj

— Nitish Jangale (@jangale_nitish) January 11, 2021

@ICC should ban the cheat Steve Smith for atleast 5 test matches, he simply can't tamper the pitch , guard of Rishabh pant, that was mischief, foul play by senior player , or mentally unstable cheat on the ground

— durgesh kaushik (@durgeshkaushik) January 11, 2021

As per ICC rules Steven Smith likely to get a warning for doing shadow batting and trying to disturb Rishabh Pant's batting stance.

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) January 11, 2021

#INDvAUS
Steve Smith removing footmarks of Rishabh Pant during drinks brake: pic.twitter.com/LhrmdTJZ07

— Ayush Saxena (@ayush__007_) January 11, 2021

I said it yesterday, I'll say it again, Cricket Australia is stooping to a new low. Shame.#INDvAUS #Smith #Pant https://t.co/deJ8oOklca

— Abhishek Anand (@Iamabhianand) January 11, 2021

Steve Smith was named the man of the match for his terrific batting in both the innings. He scored 131 in the first innings and then followed it up with 81 in the second innings. “India fought really hard. Our bowlers kept coming and coming, did their hardest today.

On day three or four, we felt that a few kept low, few that bounced a bit more. But there was not much of it today. They fought really hard. Always means a lot when you score a hundred for your country. To be able to do that here on my home ground is pretty special.

Doesn’t mean a lot now as we didn’t win the game. (We’ll) move on now to Brisbane, we have a very good record there. Looking forward to playing there in a few days time. Wanted to be a little bit more aggressive at times, went up and down through the gears throughout my innings, absorbed the pressure when needed to. Not too much else, just watched the ball hard and concentrated well. Nice to spend some time,” Steve Smith said at the post-match presentation.