I Am Glad Tim Paine Wasn't Playing For Pakistan: Kamran Akmal

Former Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal has come to his Australian counterpart Tim Paine’s defense stating that any keeper can drop catches on a given day, adding that he is glad that the Tasmanian does not play for Pakistan, else he would have been subjected to intense scrutiny.

Tim Paine had a horrible outing on the final day of the Sydney Test as he dropped as many as three catches- including two of Rishabh Pant- which ultimately proved to play a huge part in the final outcome of the game.

Reacting to the proceedings in Sydney, Akmal said that Australia made too many mistakes on a single day, and had they not committed them then they would have been celebrating victory.

India thanks to a stunning counterattack by Pant and grit, patience, and character by Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, and Ravichandran Ashwin defied the Australian attack on the final day as they played out as many as 97 overs to ensure that the series went to Brisbane still locked at 1-1.

“Australia would have been celebrating a win if they had taken their catches. This did not happen, however. The fielding did not allow this to happen. You can have good and bad days on the field. The specialty of the Australian side is that they do not make many mistakes. They made all their mistakes in a single day. Tim Paine had a very bad outing. This happens. Every keeper drops catch but what can we say,” Akmal was quoted as saying by PakistanCricket.com.

Akmal also went on to add that he is glad that Pakistan was not playing there in place of Australia as he feels that had the Men in Green made so many mistakes like Tim Paine and his Australian team did, then they would have been subjected to immense scrutiny.

“I am glad that Pakistan wasn’t playing there and he wasn’t in a Pakistan team or else they would have said so many things about him. Now I will see what will be said by those people who have spoken about me at length. It was an interesting Test and the Australian side made a lot of effort. They did not lose hope anywhere in the match that they could not win. This fighting attitude was their greatest asset,” Akmal added.

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