Australia Test captain Tim Paine’s comments that the Indian cricket team are good at 'niggling' and 'creating sideshows' received a lot of backlash from the huge fanbase of the Indian team.
The majority of the fans called Paine’s comments ‘tasteless’ and ‘lame’ and said that the Aussie captain was making excuses to cover his shortcomings after India had beaten Australia 2-1 in the Border-Gavaskar Test series down under earlier this year.
On Thursday, Paine expressed his thoughts on losing the Test series to India, to which the 36-year-old responded by saying that the Indian cricket team played mind games, which threw Australia off-guard, and that they distract the opposition by things that 'do not matter'.
"Part of the challenge of playing against India is they're very good at niggling you and trying to distract you with stuff that doesn't really matter and there were times in that series where we fell for that. The classic example was when they said they weren't going to the Gabba so we didn't know where we were going. They're very good at creating these sideshows and we took our eye off the ball,” Paine was quoted as saying by news.com.au.
However, this led to Paine being hammered on social media for his classless comments on the Indian team’s hard-fought victory, especially after losing the majority of their first-choice players to injuries and had to play the fourth and final Test in Brisbane with their reserve players.
Twitterati call Tim Paine's reason for Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21 defeat a 'poor excuse'
Paine came on Adam Gilchrist’s podcast the 'Gilly and Goss podcast' and clarified that even though he does stick to what he said, the skipper also credited India for playing better than them while adding that Ajinkya Rahane’s team deserved to win.
"I was asked a number of things, and one of those was talking about the challenges of playing against India. One of them was the distraction they can create. There was a lot of talks that they weren't going to Brisbane. They're always changing gloves and bringing out physios and all that can get on your nerves. Just that was one of the things that probably distracted me and took my eye of the ball at times," Paine told Gilchrist.
"But also, I did say that they simply outplayed us and that they deserved to win but they left that one out. The Indian fans have been slamming me on social media. They say that I'm making excuses again but it's all good fun," he added.
On the backlash received by the public, Paine said he doesn't mind taking a 'bit of stick' from the Indian fans. The Australia captain asserted that he in fact likes Indian fans and their passion for the game.
"I love the Indian fans. I don't mind getting a bit of stick, particularly when you deserve it. They ripped me off when I dropped those catches, I thought that was totally fair. Look, I love the passion, I love how much they love cricket. I love how much they interact and for some people, it is a positive interaction, but most of the time they are into me. But I don’t mind that," Paine added.
