Rohit Sharma comically MOCKS Steve Smith on his face with controversial gesture: WATCH

Former Australian captain Steve Smith was subjected to some fierce criticism after he was caught on stump camera while scratching up Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant's guard during the final day of the India vs Australia 3rd Test. After the incident came to light, several reactions poured in as fans, as well as, former cricketers slammed Smith for his antics. It was expected that the controversy could linger even in the Brisbane Test.

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India vs Australia live: Rohit Sharma mocks Steve Smith by shadow batting on the pitch

And as expected, the incident hasn't cooled off yet. During the post-lunch session on Day 4 of the India vs Australia 4th Test, Indian vice-captain Rohit Sharma apparently decided to mock Steve Smith by imitating him. The Indian opener went to the striker’s end and shadow-batted while Smith, who was present in the middle, observed him. The video of the same went viral on social media as fans were left in splits. A certain sections of fans also lauded Rohit for giving Smith a taste of his own medicine.

Here's how Rohit Sharma imitated Steve Smith

Meanwhile, Smith was unfazed by Rohit's mockery as he continued with his innings. The premier batsman went on to score the 31st fifty of his Test career before he was dismissed by Mohammed Siraj for 55. At the time of publishing this article, Australia have scored 196/5 with Cameron Grenn batting on 20 and skipper Tim Paine yet to open his account. The hosts will look to up the ante now and set a formidable target for India and give their bowlers enough time to bowl out the visitors. On the other hand, India will want to wrap the Australian innings quickly and give themselves a chance to beat the hosts at the Gabba and hand them their first loss at the venue in 32 years.

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Steve Smith denies cheating allegations, says he was marking centre as he always does

Smith himself opened up on the entire incident after the massive outcry saying that he was marking the centre as he always does. While speaking to News Corp, Smith said that he was shocked and disappointed by allegations made against him stating that he had tried to gain an unfair advantage. Smith mentioned that marking the centre is something he does in games to visualize where the Australian bowlers are bowling, how the batsmen are playing their bowlers and then out of habit he always mark centre. Expressing regret over how the incident turned out to be, Smith said that it's a shame that this and other events have taken away from what was a great batting performance by India.

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The former Australian captain also got the backing of his skipper Tim Paine who defended the 31-year old saying that he meant nothing malicious to Pant by scraping his guard. While speaking to ESPNCricinfo, Paine said that he spoke to Smith about the incident and added that he is extremely disappointed with how it has come across. Explaining Smith's actions, Paine reckoned that if you've watched Smith play Test cricket, that's something he does every single game, five or six times a day.

Paine further said that Smith is always standing in the batting crease, shadow batting. According to Paine, Smith has got numerous idiosyncrasies and one of them is always marking the centre. Pant assured that Smith was certainly not changing guard and added that if he was then the Indian players would have complained about the same at the time.

He reassured that Smith wasn't by any stretch of the imagination trying to change guard or do anything like that. Paine also said that if people look back at the footage they'll see it happens probably more than once a Test match with him. However, Pine acknowledged that now that there has been a fuss about it, it's something Smith might have to look at because of the perception of it.

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SOURCE: TWITTER