Stand-in skipper, Steve Smith is no stranger to the slip cordon and has produced brilliant scalps across his 13-year-test career.

Yesterday, he seemed to outperform his previous efforts taking one of the most ridiculous leg slip catches to dismiss the gritty Cheteshwar Pujara for a well-made 59 of 142 balls.

Smith has not been at his best in the field during this series despite being one of the most prolific catchers in test history, but he seemed to redeem himself by taking a match-defining catch and also aiding Nathan Lyon to the 6th wicket of his final figures of 8/64 late on Day 2 of the third test in Indore.

On the third ball of India's 56th over in the second innings, Lyon drifted one down the leg side and the settled Pujara tried to flick it off his pads through the fine-leg region. It then took some absolute brilliance from Smith who was first wrong-footed but managed to dive low to his right to dismiss the dangerous veteran. With barely any reaction time, this take will be widely recognized as one of the best slip catches ever taken.

The context of the catch makes it even more significant. India has absolutely dominated the Aussies in the Border-Gavaskar trophy this time around, winning the first two test matches comfortably. The home team was set to worry the visitors again with Pujara leading the effort with a bat looking very settled and comfortable out in the middle of the Holkar stadium. Smith's brilliance brought the momentum back into the hands of the visitors as they managed to wrap up the innings in four overs after the dismissal.

"It was massive," Lyon said.

"To be honest with you, and this is no disrespect to anyone else in the team, but I don't think anyone else is catching it. That's just me bowling from one end and looking up and seeing Steve Smith at slip or leg slip and having that confidence as a bowler.

"Hats off to Smithy, he did all the work, I'm not surprised but it was a massive moment to finish off the day strongly."

Australia will start day 3 in a comfortable position needing just 75 runs with three days of play left. To avoid further embarrassment, the visitors need to avoid a collapse to the http://gty.im/898901460 Indian bowling contingent and secure the first step to a fight back in the series to make it 2-1 and steer clear of a whitewash.