His Days as Captain Are Numbered: Sunil Gavaskar Rips Into Tim Paine For Unruly Conduct
Tim Paine tried his best to rattle 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.
Former Team India captain Sunil Gavaskar has criticized the unbefitting behaviour of Australian captain Tim Paine during the Sydney Test. He even slammed the Australian captain for sledging Ravichandran Ashwin during the drawn Sydney Test and said this kind of behaviour could ultimately cost him his captaincy.
In a special conversation with India Today, Sunil Gavaskar said that Ravichandran Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari were standing at the crease even after the injury and both the players were taking the match towards the draw. On the other hand, the Australian captain was continuously busy in sledging R Ashwin. Talking on the same matter, Gavaskar said that instead of provoking Ashwin, Tim Paine should focus on his fielding skills, he has dropped a number of catches during the third Test.
“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 told India Today.
“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,” Gavaskar said.
Paine dropped three catches during the match.
“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,” the former India skipper said.
“He was a little bit disturbed, his concentration was not thereafter that little episode with R Ashwin.”
At the end of the play, Paine came to Ashwin to shake hands and it seemed all was good between the two players. With the series level at 1-1, India and Australia will play the fourth and final Test in Brisbane starting from January 15th.
