As the ball-tampering scandal will complete two years by the end of this month, a documentary titled “The Test” is set to be released on Thursday (March 12), showing the journey of Australian team from the controversial Cape Town Test to the retention of the Ashes at Old Trafford.
The documentary series also has some raw moments from India's historic Test series win on Australian soil in the 2018-19 season.
In the third episode, Australia skipper Tim Paine talks about how he was losing sleep over getting Virat Kohli out in the Test series after seeing his counterpart smacking the ball in the nets.
"India is such a big country. He is so popular over there that he has become a sort of a global superstar. Wherever he goes, there are just people. They are just around him. Outstanding player. Probably the best player in the world at the moment. Well, I just remember watching him in the nets. They put that footage out pre-series and he was absolutely smacking them."
"And I was sort of thinking that, 'how are we going to get this bloke out.' And mum being mum just said, oh, he's only another person. I said, Oh, OK, Mum, thanks, that's good advice. That's gonna help us get him out. Isn't it?"
The third episode of the series, called 'A Test of the Character', has also highlighted the heated exchange between Paine and Kohli during the second Test in Perth.
"I was just sitting and watching him and he gave few of our guys send-offs. The plan was not to talk to him when he was batting. When we were batting, its kinds of up to the individual they want to do. And I sort of just had enough and thought you also have to stand up for yourselves and stand up for your teammates. And that was one of the reasons. I just thought I am the captain it is my turn now. I have to stand up and show him that we were here for the fight," Paine said.
After a series of banter, both the captains nearly had a physical altercation in the second Test as well. Such was the event that the on-field umpires had to step in and warn Paine and Kohli.
Speaking about the episode, the Australian skipper said, "He was trying to upset me with the part-time captain and I sort of went the opposite with him. I was sort of telling him how good he was and that he was the greatest player ever."
"You don't want to get right into a fight with him because that's what he likes. I was just trying to poke him a little bit and see if I could get him to implode a little bit."
(Inputs from India Today)
