Sydney: Australia skipper Tim Paine betrothed in a banter with Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Day five of the third Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Australia were looking to pick 10 wickets on Day five to win the match but the Indian batsmen had other plans.
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.
Paine tried his best to clatter Ashwin when he was in the middle. Paine was seen indulging in banter with Ashwin as he told the off-spinner that he cannot wait to see him in the Brisbane Test. “Can’t wait to get you to the Gabba, Ash,” Paine said during Nathan Lyon’s over. Ashwin was quick to respond and he said, “I can’t wait to get you to India, it’ll be your last series.”
Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar wasn’t happy with the way Paine behaved in the middle and said that it was unbefitting of a national team captain. “First and foremost, it was unbefitting of a captain of a national team to be talking about something other than cricket. By all means, you want to have a go at the opposition, you talk about their cricket, you can tell the batsmen he doesn’t know how to play, you can say he is no good.”
“All those kinds of things are completely acceptable because you’re talking cricket. But when you talk about something else, it shows your frustration. It shows you are not able to bear the fact that the opposition is putting up a fight,” Sunil Gavaskar told India Today.
“At the end of the day, the Indians had the last laugh. R Ashwin had the last laugh for whatever Tim Paine was saying. I don’t know I am not an Australian selector, but his days as captain are numbered. If you allow the Indian team to bat 130-odd overs without getting wickets, this is a very good Australian attack. The bowling changes, the field placements, everything could have made a difference to the result,” Gavaskar added.
“But Tim Paine was more interested in talking to the batsman rather than his field placing and bowling changes. So I won’t be surprised if there is a change in the Australian captaincy after the series is over. If you drop simple catches, Rishabh Pant got two edges, they were not difficult catches, the last one which he missed off Vihari was also which he could have left to the first slip. He was a little bit disturbed, his concentration was not thereafter that little episode with R Ashwin.”
The two teams will meet again for the fourth and final Test in The Gabba, Brisbane which will begin from January 15-19.
