Following a frustrating day for the Australians, Tim Paine has expressed that he certainly let the bowlers down with his dropped catches and feels bitterly disappointed. He also praised Rishabh Pant’s approach, stating that his innings was amazing while crediting the Test as an amazing game.
At 102/3, Australia’s hopes were sparkling, especially after having seen the back of Indian skipper Ajinkya Rahane. However, Rishabh Pant’s promotion up the order changed the complexion of the encounter, as a scintillating 118-ball 97 showed a ray of hope for the visitors on a possible victory in Sydney. Just post his dismissal, with the new ball, Australia seemed to be in a dominant position after Pujara’s dismissal.
Despite being in pockets of multiple positions of dominance, Australia let all the chances down with Tim Paine being the biggest culprit. The Australian skipper and wicketkeeper let down as many as three catches throughout the day, which allowed the Indians to stretch the game to an epic draw. Following the conclusion of the game, Paine expressed his feeling of letting the bowlers down with dropped chances.
However, at the same time, the Australian credited Rishabh Pant for his knock, which he hailed as ‘great’, and stated that he played good shots. Paine also reckoned that they got plenty of chances to get India dismissed but Australia, unfortunately, didn’t get hold of any catches.
“I thought like the whole innings we were creating chances to get him (Pant), we just had to hold one. I thought Lyon was bowling really well. Rishabh played an amazing innings, he played some superb shots, we know he’s got that in him but we also know he gives you chances and we just had to hold onto one,” said Paine in the post-match press conference, reported Cricbuzz.
“I’m bitterly disappointed, I pride myself on my wicketkeeping. Haven’t had too many worse days than today, it’s a horrible feeling knowing our fast bowlers and our spinner bowled their hearts out and gave everything to the team. I certainly feel I let them down. I have to wear that, but I’ll get another crack at it next week so move on,” he added.
While talking about the missed chances, Paine was unfazed about the hosts’ inability to win the encounter from a position of dominance. He stated that it was an awesome of showcase cricket, where India fought ‘bloody hard’.
“We created enough chances to win, wouldn’t say it’s deflating. Though there were a lot of positives out of the game and it was an awesome game of Test cricket. India fought bloody hard like we knew they would, clearly we are disappointed not to get a win but thought there were some good signs for us after the Melbourne Test.”
Despite the great show on the field, the Test was overshadowed by the racial abuses from a particular section of the crowd during Australia’s innings, with it targeting the Indian pacers – Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.
“I just wanted to let the Indian team know we were with them on that. Like I said, it’s not condoned by any of us and really disappointed that that happens when teams come to Australia and we want it to stop,” he stated clearly.
“I think it’s bitterly disappointing. Cricket Australia and the Australian cricket team, we don’t condone any sort of abuse, particularly racial abuse. Just wanted to make sure the Indian boys knew we are also against it and we support them,” he concluded.
