‘Most of it I deserve’ – Tim Paine reacts as Indian fans troll him for ‘India’s sideshows’ remarks

‘Most of it I deserve’ – Tim Paine reacts as Indian fans troll him for ‘India’s sideshows’ remarks

Tim Paine

Australian Test skipper Tim Paine opened up about his tenure as a captain, future plans and India’s tour of Australia earlier this year, reflecting on a topsy-turvy year or so for him at a charity dinner. The wicket-keeper batsman’s speech was reportedly received with thunderous applause, thanks to his honest opinions. One of Paine’s key focuses in the speech was the series loss to India.

The series saw his reputation as a captain get tarnished while his temperament was under scrutiny due to his on-field actions, especially one involving Ravichandran Ashwin. Australia’s loss was India’s gain as the series proved to be one of the most remarkable wins in Indian Test history. India braved a plethora of obstacles to register their second Test series win.

Paine feels that the Indian team distracted the Australians during the tour by their actions off the field. The Tasmanian cited India refusing to travel to Brisbane due to quarantine restrictions as an example in his speech.

“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,” Paine said, according to 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 further said.

Tim Paine trends on social media as Indian fans hit back

Tim Paine
Tim Paine

Following his remarks, Paine was trending on social media as Indian fans trolled him. While some fans reminded him of his failed attempt to sledge Ashwin, others reminded him of Rishabh Pant‘s heroics in the series. A sports journalist shared a snippet in which Indian fans can be seen having fun with Paine.

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“Almost 6 months on, poor old @tdpaine36 is still copping heat from Indian fans… and these are just the ones I’m tagged in,” tweeted the journalist.

To this tweet, Paine replied, “Love their passion, Brent. Most of it I deserve.”

In his speech, Paine also hinted at stepping down after the Ashes later this year. He went on to speak of how Steve Smith could be the perfect one to take over the role yet again.

Also Read: “They are very good at creating sideshows” – Tim Paine says Australians got distracted during Test series against India