Australia Test skipper Tim Paine has indicated that his side was distracted by Team India during the tour which eventually saw the hosts losing the Test series in January this year. India defeated Australia by three wickets against all odds in the final Test of the four-match series at The Gabba in January to take the series 2-1.
Paine claimed that the Ajinkya Rahane-led side created “sideshows” by saying that the visitors were not going to the Gabba (venue of the fourth Test). “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,” news.com.au quoted Paine as saying at a function for the Chappell Foundation at the SCG on Wednesday night.“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,” he added. The last time a visiting team came out triumphant from the Brisbane Cricket Ground was back in November 1988 when the mighty West Indian outfit under the leadership of Viv Richards thrashed Allan Border’s team by nine wickets.What made the feat even more commendable is how Team India fought multiple injuries and mental fatigue – due to the bio-bubble restrictions — to register a historic win. In the first Test against Australia, India was bundled out for 36 and there were many pundits who said the visiting team would face a 4-0 drubbing. But proving every critic wrong, the Rahane-led side registered famous victories at Melbourne and Brisbane. The side also recorded a draw at Sydney and at every step of the way, the team overcame adversity.
Tim Paine also came out in support of Steve Smith as he felt the right-handed batsman deserved another chance to lead the team from Down Under. In March this year, Smith for the first time had openly talked about wanting to lead Australia again. The 31-year-old cricketer was removed as the skipper following his involvement in the Sandpaper Gate fiasco in the Cape Town Test against South Africa in March 2018. Smith’s captaincy ban expired last year, however, he was not handed back the leadership post as Paine continued to lead the side in the longest format of the game. “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,” The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Paine as saying at a dinner for the Chappell Foundation. “He’s probably a bit like me when I was at the start of my captaincy journey in Tasmania — he was thrown into a very big role at a very, very young age and he probably wasn’t quite ready for it. “But by the time I came in he was growing into that role and getting better and better. Then obviously [in] South Africa events happened and he’s not doing it anymore. But yeah I would support him getting that job again,” Paine added.
Australia is slated to play a one-off Test against Afghanistan this year before they take on England in the Ashes. When asked about any plans to retire, the Australian skipper said he had “at least another six Tests” in him. “If I feel like the time is right and we’ve beaten the Poms 5-0, what a way to go out. But it might be a tight series and we might be chasing 300 on the last day and I’m 100 not out and hit the winning runs — and then I might go again,” Paine said. In 2019, the fifth and final match of the 2019 Ashes was won by England by 135 runs to level the series 2-2. However, Australia retained the urn as they had previously won the Ashes in the 2017/18 season. This was the first time in 47 years that the Ashes ended as a draw. The last series which ended as a draw between England and Australia was in 1972.