Tim Paine, the Australian Test captain, often referred to as the second most important person in the country after the Prime Minister, has made it clear that he wants to “keep leading the Test team” after his captaincy was questioned following an embarrassing 1-2 Test series loss to India.
Paine’s captaincy came under scrutiny after an inexperienced Indian XI thrashed star-studded Australian team in a four-Test series to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on Tuesday (January 19).
He also became the first Australian captain to lose a Test match at the Gabba since 1988, while they lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to India for the second consecutive time under his captaincy on home soil.
Well, the Tasmanian knows what is coming his way, saying he is “going to cop heaps of flak and he is totally fine with it” after the crushing Test series loss to India, but was confident that he is the right man to lead Australia in Test cricket and is looking forward to the next Test assignment in South Africa.
Paine told reporters, “We’ve got some unfinished business ... I intend to finish that. It doesn’t always go your way in cricket and life. For me, it’s about soldiering on. I’ve said many times in the last two or three years that I don’t look past the next series. I’m 36 years old. I’m loving doing my job.”
The 36-year-old further added, “I don’t sit at home thinking I’ve done a brilliant job every day. I’m very honest with myself, I know when I make mistakes. I’m going to cop heaps of flak, I know it. That’s what I signed up for ... I’m totally fine with that.”
On his job in the recent home Test series against India, the Aussie captain said: “This has certainly been slightly different for me in the last two weeks with lots of criticism coming my way. In the past, it probably hasn’t come my way. But that’s par for the course. International cricket is a big-boy business and you have to have a very, very thick skin.”
Paine signed off by saying, “I had a pretty ordinary day in Sydney (three dropped catches), I copped that on the chin. Still looking forward to going to South Africa ... we had a goal to make this Test championship final and I think that’s still achievable.”
(With The Guardian Inputs)
