Australia Was Distracted By India's 'Niggling': Tim Paine's Bizarre Statement On Test Series Loss

Australian Test skipper Tim Paine was referring to unverified reports which claimed that Indian cricket team was reluctant to play the Brisbane Test, if the players were forced to undergo hard quarantine again.

Photo Courtesy: AFP

Indian cricket fans have been continuously trolling Australian Test captain Tim Paine on social media since Thursday. In an interview, Tim Paine claimed the Australian team was  distracted by Indian cricket team's "niggling" during the India vs Australia Test series early this year.

 

Despite being ravaged by injuries, Virat & Co. defeated Australia by three wickets in the Brisbane Test to clinch the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.  India defeated Australia 2-1 in the four-match Test series Down Under for the second time in a row.

 

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"...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," Paine told news.com.au.

"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," he added.

The Australian Test skipper was referring to unverified reports which claimed that Indian cricket team was reluctant to play the Brisbane Test, if the players were forced to undergo hard quarantine again.

India, however, chased down 328 with 19 balls remaining to attain a nail-biting three-wicket win on the final day of the Gabba test, to seal the Border-Gavaskar series. During the entire Ind vs Aus Test series, Tim Paine's captaincy was criticised heavily.

"WHAT A WIN!!! Yessssss. To everyone who doubted us after Adelaide, stand up and take notice," India captain Virat Kohli had tweeted from his Twitter handle to laud his team's efforts.