Australian Test skipper Tim Paine has placed some serious allegations against Team India when they toured down under last year. They won the Test series under Ajinkya Rahane’s captaincy 2-1 after Virat Kohli flew back on parental leave after losing the first Test. India won at Melbourne and at The Gabba under Rahane’s captaincy to regain the Border-Gavaskar trophy.
Meanwhile, talking to News.com.au, Tim Paine spoke about how India’s decision to not go to Gabba distracted the Aussies and shifted their focus from the Test match. Eventually, the final Test went ahead at the Gabba only to see Australia losing their fortress.
India Good At Distracting Opposition: Tim Paine
“Part of the challenge of playing against India is they’re very good at niggling you and trying to distract you with stuff that doesn’t really matter and there were times in that series where we fell for that. The classic example was when they said they weren’t going to the Gabba so we didn’t know where we were going. They’re very good at creating these sideshows and we took our eye off the ball” Tim Paine said.
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Australia bowlers looked deflated on the final day and captain Tim Paine was far from impressive with his glovework and tactics. Australia lost the series 2-1 as India won their second successive series on Australian soil.
Team India made a grand comeback to win the series after losing the first Test. They won at the Gabba to win the series becoming the first team to beat Australia at the venue since 1988. They lost the first of a 4-Test series against England at home but bounced back to win the series 2-1 and book a place in the final of the World Test Championship.
Virat Kohli’s men will travel to England in the first week of June and complete the mandatory quarantine period before taking on New Zealand in the World Test Championship final in Southampton from June 18. That follows a five-match Test series against England from August 4. India beat England 3-1 when they hosted the Englishmen at home earlier this year.
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Tim Paine has also said that Steve Smith deserves to be recalled as the Test captain of the side with Ashes series coming up. Paine, who has 11 wins and four draws in 23 matches as skipper includes series loss against India and Pakistan.
“I think so. Obviously I don’t make that decision but the time I played with Steve as captain he was excellent. Certainly tactically he is as good as you get,” Paine said.