Sydney: Australia skipper Tim Paine on Tuesday (January 12) issued an apology for his misbehavior on day five of the third Test against India in Sydney Cricket Ground. Speaking to the reporters, Paine confessed that he let the constraint get to him and said a few words he shouldn’t have told.
Paine was caught on stump mic rambling on Ashwin from behind the stumps in Nathan Lyon’s over. At one stage he called Ashwin a d****h****, but Ashwin kept himself cool. While on Monday (January 11), Rishabh Pant scored a brilliant 97, Cheteshwar Pujara scored a solid 77 off 205 balls before Hanuma Vihari, battling an injury, and Ashwin’s 259-ball rearguard denied Australia a win at the SCG. After a stupendous effort from Ashwin and Vihari, earned a hard-fought draw against the hosts. The series is tied at 1-1.
Tim Paine has apologised for his conduct at the SCG, admitting he let pressure get to him during the third #AUSvIND Test and it affected his mood, captaincy and performance: https://t.co/nOlbk1GaUR pic.twitter.com/5BID4OPDYU
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 12, 2021
Paine, who apologised to his teammates for his three dropped catches in his post-match conference on Monday, requested the opportunity to address the media again on Tuesday. “I want to apologise for the way I went about things, I’m someone who prides himself on the way he leads this team and yesterday was a poor reflection of that,” he told reporters.
“My leadership wasn’t good enough, I let the pressure of the game get to me. Yesterday, I fell short of my expectations and my team’s standards. I’m human, I want to apologise for the mistakes I made yesterday … we’ve set really high standards over the last 18 months and yesterday was a bit of a blip on the radar,” the wicket-keeper batsman added.
The 36-year-old said he had felt ‘off’ for the entire match, during which he was also fined 15 per cent of his match fee for swearing while complaining to an umpire. “I spoke to (Ashwin) quickly after the game yesterday, and I said to him ‘yeah, you end up looking the fool, you open your mouth and you end up dropping a catch’,” he added.
“We had a bit of a laugh about that … and everything was fine. I have to cope with what’s coming on the chin and I’m really looking forward to moving on to Brisbane and getting back more for playing the game more like Tim Paine plays the game,” Paine said.
The two teams will meet again for the fourth and final Test in The Gabba, Brisbane which will begin from January 15-19.
