Watch: Gill, Shastri give unforgettable reactions after young fan becomes crowd's 'hero' with epic ball assist

A young fan in his teens came to the fore and helped retrieve the ball from the sight screen when all hope seemed lost, and upon doing so became an instant viral sensation for his heroic act, garnering a wild wave of cheers

Usman Khawaja and Cameron Green emerged heroes for Australia with respective centuries, and Ravichandran Ashwin was India's man of the hour, picking up a five-wicket-haul. However, towards the end of the day, an unexpected individual became the saviour for both India, Australia and those present in the crowd. A young fan in his teens came to the fore and helped retrieve the ball from the sight screen when all hope seemed lost, and upon doing so became an instant viral sensation for his heroic act, garnering a wild wave of cheers from those inside the Narendra Modi Stadium on Friday.

The hero we didn't know exists. Well done young man. (Screengrab)

Here's exactly what happened. In the final over of the day, Shubman Gill danced down the wicket to Nathan Lyon and hammered him over long on for the first six of the match. Gill's precision was such that the ball landed in the area covered by white sheets next to the sight screen and landed in a vacant space between the layering. For the longest time, no action was taken and the option that seemed the most viable was to get it replaced with another ball.

The officials had even made their way out with a box but just when the decision was being made, everyone halted. The cameras panned towards where the ball had flown, and projected the youngster trying his best to find the ball on the big screen. Much to the amusement of everyone, the fan ducked under the sheets, going the extra mile to retrieve the ball. "The big fella has gone in," said Ravi Shastri on air.

Finally, after minutes of searching, the youngster's efforts paid off. He picked the ball up and gloated as the crowd went berserk. The excitement was so much that the teenager almost tripped twice trying to throw the ball back into the ground. "Oh he's found it. He has found it. He has found gold. Out he comes and like a hero, he might just fall. He is just about losing balance there. It comes out and down he goes again for the count," Shastri said while commentating. The act left everyone in splits, including Gill, who couldn't help but put a smile on his face.

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By the time the camera panned on the fan again, he had become famous. The youngster was seen receiving calls that made Shastri go: "He's getting too many calls now that he's appeared on the big screen".

Gill then played out the remaining four balls of the over with ease taking India to 36/0 after 10 overs at stumps on Day 2 of the 4th India vs Australia Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. With the match supposed to last through Day 3 for the first time in the series tomorrow, India have a tall task at hand as they trail Australia's first-innings total of 480 by a mammoth 444 runs. The star-studded Indian batting line-up featuring Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli would be eager to score some runs on what appears to be a belter of a pitch.