Watch: Umpire praises KL Rahul after his act of sportsmanship at SCG

After declaring their first innings at 622/7 late on day 2 of the fourth Test, the Indian bowlers were made to toil hard in the first session of day 3 as the Australian batsmen went into lunch at 99/1 with Marcus Harris batting on 77 and Marnus Labuschagne on 18.

The Indians started off the bowling with Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami and it didn't take Virat Kohli so long to introduce spin into the attack as he brought on Ravindra Jadeja in just the fifth over of the day. That move almost proved to be a master-stroke as Jadeja forced Marcus Harris to take him on off the very first ball and the southpaw danced down the track and hit the ball in the air towards mid-on.

Harris didn't connect with the shot properly and the fielder at mid-on, KL Rahul, was in with a chance to pouch a catch but the ball was always going to fall short of Rahul. Rahul put in a full-stretch dive forward and took the ball sending the bowler, wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant and slip fielder Ajinkya Rahane into celebration mode.

As the Indian fielders were converging to celebrate the fall of the wicket, Rahul himself suggested that the ball didn't carry to him and he took it on the bounce. The on-field umpire Ian Gould was impressed with Rahul's gestures.

Gould first showed Rahul a thumbs up when the bowler was going back to his mark and then, during the change over in-between the overs, he said, "KL Rahul, outstanding mate. Well done."

A good effort from Rahul and he immediately says it bounced. Great stuff. Umpire Gould a big fan of it #CloseMatters#AUSvIND | @GilletteAU pic.twitter.com/7nA0H5Lsc7

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 4, 2019

In a series that has had its fair share of controversial moments, particularly with close calls on catches, it was refreshing to see some good sportsmanship and the crowd, with a sea of Pink, didn't wait to give Rahul a standing ovation and acknowledge his gesture.

Marcus Harris went on to score his second Test fifty and has looked positive against the Indian bowlers in the Test. Khawaja, on the other hand, tried to be over aggressive and threw his wicket away when he tried to hit Kuldeep Yadav out of the park and ended up offering Cheteshwar Pujara an easy catch at short mid-wicket.