Legendary Indian cricketer, Sunil Gavaskar on Monday lashed out at the Australian skipper, Tim Paine for sledging the Indian off-spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin during the drawn Sydney Test as he said that his behavior was unbefitting as the leader and could ultimately cost him his leadership duties. Australia’s lethal bowling attack was unable to run find a loophole in India’s batting unit as the visitors hung on for a memorable draw at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground.
During a recent chat with India Today, Sunil Gavaskar said, “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.”
Paine’s dropped catches resulted in Australia failing to dismiss the Indian batting unit in the second innings. Even after exchanging a verbal banter with Ashwin to break his concentration, Paine dropped Vihari’s catch which was the final nail in the coffin for the hosts.
ALSO READ: Ravindra Jadeja Promises To Come back Stronger After Surgery
Talking about the same, Gavaskar said, “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. He was a little bit disturbed, his concentration was not thereafter that little episode with R Ashwin. First and foremost, it was unbefitting of a captain of a national team to be talking about something other than cricket.”
He further elaborated, “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.”
On the other hand, Tim Paine defended himself as he said no harm was done and it was all part of the game.
ALSO READ: Tim Paine Comes In Defense Of Steve Smith After Scuffing Incident
In a virtual press conference, Paine had said, “There was a bit of by-play going on. They were wasting a bit of time, we were getting a bit frustrated, we let him know, he had a bit of say back and again it’s all part of the game. No harm done.”
