Amid the heavy criticism following a shocking Test series loss to India, Australia’s out-of-favor batsman Peter Handscomb has on Thursday (January 21) come out in support of under-fire Test captain Tim Paine, saying criticizing the Tasmanian for the loss is “an absolute joke”.
Paine has been severely criticizing for his poor wicket-keeping and captaincy during the recent four-Test home series after an injury-hit India scripted a historic win at The Gabba to reclaim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2-1 against Australia earlier this week.
Handscomb, who is currently playing in the ongoing Big Bash League (BBL) 2020-21, said it's a bit of a joke to criticize Paine for the Test series loss to India. He played the last Test for Australia against India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2018-19 when Virat Kohli led India to a historic triumph.
As reported by PTI, Handscomb told reporters: “I can't believe the fallout from this Test is his captaincy, that's just an absolute joke. The poor guy's batting beautifully, making some good runs, taking the game on, and leading with that intent, which is really good to see.”
The 29-year-old signed off by saying, “For it to come down to some perceived captaincy ideas is ridiculous. The whole team's there and everyone's trying to do their best, it's a bit of a joke that the takeaway seems to be his captaincy.”
Noteworthy, many have been calling for the sacking of Paine, though the skipper has insisted that he loves his job and keen to continue to captain Australia’s Test side.
(With PTI Inputs)
