Australian captain Tim Paine blames India for Test series loss

Australian Test captain Tim Paine has claimed that his team lost the home Test series 2 – 1 against India as the distraction and “sideshows” caused by the visitors made them take the eyes off the ball. India bounced back in the historic series despite being bundled out for 36 in their first Test, which also happens to be their lowest ever Test score.

During a function for the Chappell Foundation at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Wednesday night, Tim Paine was reportedly quoted as saying, “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.” He added, “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.”

Making history at Brisbane during the fourth Test, India, led by Ajinkya Rahane, became the first team to beat Australia at the Gabba in over 32 years. The former defeated the hosts by three wickets in the fourth and final Test and won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2-1 on January 19. Australia hadn’t lost a Test match at the Gabba since 1988.