Australia skipper Tim Paine has said that India are “very good at creating sideshows” and that distracted his side during their recent series loss against them at home.
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As reported news.com.au, Paine remarked that he allowed Australia to be distracted by India’s off-field shenanigans.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
The comments invited scathing criticism on social media, especially since the general perception was Australia crossed a line with their sledging during the intense moments of the Test series. Paine himself later apologised for his behaviour during the series.
“Atleast my Teammates like me”
~ Tim Paine to Ash. pic.twitter.com/aYgZ9PxhLw— Loosu Paapa🍀 (@CertainSoul) May 13, 2021
An excerpt from Tim Paine’s recent interview. Just parking it here. You are entitled to form your own opinions. 😎🙈 pic.twitter.com/Ej1u7RCrlM
— Wear a Mask. Stay Safe, India (@cricketaakash) May 13, 2021
Tim Paine’s greatest acheivement till date is his teammates still like him
— Udit (@udit_buch) May 13, 2021
Tim Paine says India put on sideshows, distracted his team. With pathetic excuses like these, he is better off playing gully cricket.
India had plenty of distractions, captain leaving, Rohit injury cloud, players injured, beef drama, yet there were no complaints.
— The Joker 🃏 (@Joker122018) May 13, 2021
This from Tim Paine seems like a fairly unconvincing explanation for why 🇦🇺 lost another home test series to 🇮🇳: they bamboozled us with distractions!
Also pretty insulting to your own players.
Why can’t you just say 🇮🇳 played better than us and leave it at that? https://t.co/vxVun9eoAn
— Michael Appleton 🗳 🏏 (@michelappleton) May 13, 2021
An Australian captain complaining how India used tactics to defeat them! My childhood is complete. #TimPaine #Gabba pic.twitter.com/2vQSsZCCxj
— Ruchit Desai (@Ruchit_D) May 13, 2021
Tim Paine “at least my team mates like me”
Yes Tim, but seems like they are the only people in the world that do.— Cricket tweets (@_stavros1) May 13, 2021
A few have defended Paine’s comments stating that they have been taken out of context.
Who would have thought the last 2 paragraphs of a 22 paragraph story taken from a wide ranging speaking engagement by @tdpaine36 at a charity dinner which create such a fuss. What @melindafarrell said 👇 https://t.co/4yFcrDhndb
— Malcolm Conn (@malcolmconn) May 13, 2021
Ha! I like spice! I just think this is one of those things where two pars out of a 30 minute interview probably read a bit differently to how they were said as part of a wider discussion on captaincy.
— Melinda Farrell (@melindafarrell) May 13, 2021
