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‘His teammates still like him?’ – Tim Paine criticized for India ‘sideshow’ comments

Tim Paine Criticized For India ‘Sideshow’ Comments
by Wisden Staff 2 minute read

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.

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.

A few have defended Paine’s comments stating that they have been taken out of context.

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