Australian skipper Tim Paine brought a lot of backlash after accusing Team India of niggling and distracting their opponents. Fans took it to social media and slammed Paine for his comment. However, he clarified his stance and said he isn’t making any excuses.
Team India registered a historic Test series win in Australia in January. India were battered and bruised with their backs against the wall but they didn’t let their guard fall despite a shambolic performance in Adelaide. They came back from behind to register a memorable win by securing a historic win in Brisbane’s Gabba, where Australia was unbeaten for 32 years.
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Paine recently made a comment where he accused India of playing niggling games and how they distracted their opponents by making the fuss about going to Brisbane. The fans troll him for these remarks. Now he came up with clarification and said he is not making any excuses for his team’s defeat.
“I was asked a number of things, and one of those was talking about the challenges of playing against India. One of them is the distraction they can create. There was a lot of talk that they weren’t going to Brisbane. They’re always changing gloves and bringing out physios and all that can get on your nerves. Just said that was one of the things that probably distracted me and took my eye of the ball at times,” Paine explained on the Gilly and Goss podcast.
“But also, I did say that they simply outplayed us and that they deserved to win but they left that one out. The Indian fans have been slamming me on social media. They say that I’m making excuses again but it’s all good fun,” Paine added.
“Absolutely, I think anytime an Australian captain speaks publicly is gonna to see the light of the day, there’s no doubt about that. Like I said, it was a wide-ranging interview for a long period of time. I certainly wasn’t making any excuses. I was asked about some of the challenges of the summer, and I said that was one of them for me.
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“I love Indian fans. I don’t mind getting a bit of stick, particularly when you deserve. They ripped me off in the summer when I dropped those catches, that was totally fair. I love the passion. I love how much they love cricket. I like how much they interact. For some people it’s positive interaction… most of the times they are in to me, but I don’t mind that,” said Paine, praising Indian fans.
The series defeat against India came at the expense of a berth in the World Test Championship final. India qualified for the marquee clash while New Zealand just pipped Australia to secure second place on the points table.
