[Watch] Hardik Pandya ends Steve Smith's misery as Australian captain goes back for a duck in IND vs AUS 3rd ODI

Australia's stand-in skipper Steve Smith's tour of India was summarized by his dismissal off Hardik Pandya's bowling in the third ODI in Chennai on Wednesday. Smith was expected to be one of Australia's biggest hopes on the tour, but he wasn't able to leave his mark as a batter in both Test series as well as in the ODIs.

Hardik Pandya bowled his first spell with great rhythm and hit the right lengths. One of his deliveries just pitched and held its line, enough to induce an edge off Steve Smith's bat as the latter looked to play a big booming cover drive to get off the mark. KL Rahul comfortably grabbed the catch to give India their second wicket.

Steve Smith was distraught after his dismissal and rightly so as there was an opportunity to score big on what seemed to be a good batting pitch.

Here's a video of Hardik Pandya dismissing Smith for a duck:

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Hardik Pandya helps India claw back into 3rd ODI

Australia elected to bat first and got off to a flying start once again, thanks to Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head. The duo added 68 runs for the first wicket and seemed pretty comfortable at the crease.

But this is where Hardik Pandya showed why he is such an asset to the Indian team. His ability to break partnerships makes him indispensable.

The vice-captain bowled short at Head and forced him to play a false shot. He could only hit it down the throat of the third man.

Smith's wicket was next and also a big one as he hadn't opened his account by then.

Marsh looked good to score big once again, but Hardik bowled another good length delivery that led to the Aussie's undoing. The right-hander went for a cover drive without getting to the pitch of the ball and could only drag it back onto his stumps.

Kuldeep Yadav has chipped in with a wicket too and Australia are four down at the time of writing.