AUS v IND 2020-21: Tim Paine regrets his verbal follies caught on mic; says “need to set good example for kids”

He also regretted dropping crucial catches of Pant and Vihari.

It was not a good day for Australia captain Tim Paine at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), as the visiting Indian team escaped with a hard-fought draw in the third Test of the four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.

Paine, who would have fancied his chances of Australia going 2-1 up when Indian captain Ajinkya Rahane fell in the second over of the fifth day; was left to rue his own poor wicketkeeping, as he grassed Rishabh Pant twice, letting him race to 97 with 12 fours and 3 sixes.

Pant added 148 runs with Cheteshwar Pujara, who made 77, igniting India’s hopes for a win. But after the duo was dismissed, Australian bowlers smelled victory. However, they were kept at bay by an injured Hanuma Vihari and R Ashwin, who was also battling with a hurt back and was hit in the ribs by a short ball.

Ashwin and Vihari batted for 258 balls, adding 62* runs for the sixth wicket, and earned a draw for their team, keeping the series 1-1 going into the Brisbane Test match.

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Meanwhile, Paine was at fault with both gloves, having dropped Vihari late in the day and then being caught multiple times using profanity on stump mic and having a needless verbal duel with R Ashwin.

He also interrupted Ashwin a couple of times, as he was readying to face Nathan Lyon, leaving Ashwin to step back as the bowler entered his bowling stride.

Paine was fined 15 percent of his match fee after being found guilty of dissent on day three of the third Vodafone Test when he appealed to standing umpire Paul Wilson for some "f---ing consistency".After the match, Paine admitted his mistakes and said, “I probably set a pretty poor example with my use of language. Certainly disappointed with myself. I certainly didn't mean to be disrespectful to him (Wilson). It was just the heat of the moment. I need to be better. I know the stump mics are on and there's a lot of kids watching, and I need to set a better example."

Stump microphones picked up some of Paine's verbal, including when he called the veteran spinner a "d-ckhead" and boasted of having "more Indian friends than you do".

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"Even your teammates think you're a goose. Don't they? Every one of them. How many IPL teams wanted you, when you asked every single one of them to have you?” he told Ashwin.

Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar was left unimpressed with Paine’s words and said during commentary, “Frankly, it's ridiculous. It's unnecessary."

Paine also spoke about his wicketkeeping mistakes and said, “I'm bitterly disappointed, I pride myself on my wicketkeeping. Haven't had too many worse days than that. It's a horrible feeling ... I let them (bowlers) down. I have to wear that."

(cricket.com.au inputs)