If You Chat You Got To Take The Catch: Brad Hogg Fires Shots At Australian Skipper Tim Paine

Former Australian leg-spinner Brad Hogg has come down hard on skipper and wicketkeeper-batsman Tim Paine for all talk and no performance on the final day of the Sydney Test against India.

India held on to an epic draw at the SCG thanks to the grit, resilience, and determination of Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, and Ravichandran Ashwin and the flamboyance of Rishabh Pant, who smashed a counterpunching 118-ball 97 on the fifth day of the third Test.

Tim Paine was once again at his chirpiest best behind the stumps but unfortunately for him and Australia, the wicketkeeper couldn’t quite walk the talk as dropped as many as three catches- two of Rishabh Pant and one of Hanuma Vihari.

Nathan Lyon bore the maximum brunt of Paine’s mishaps as he drew edge off Pant’s bat on a couple of occasions, only to see his captain shell what were regulation catches at the Test level.

As a result of those twin dropped catches, Rishabh Pant made full use of the reprieves as he launched a stunning counterattack against Nathan Lyon and other Aussie bowlers to smash one of the great 4th innings knock.

Paine’s day kept getting worse as he dropped yet another catch- this time of Hanuma Vihari- off the bowling of Mitchell Starc in the closing stages of the day. However, all these dropped catches did not come in way of Paine having a go at Ravichandran Ashwin, during which he even went on to ridicule India’s accent besides calling the off-spinner a ‘d***head’

Post the match, Brad Hogg engaged in an interactive session with his fans on Twitter where he was asked about his views on the Australian skipper.

“@Brad_Hogg thoughts on Paine?”- asked a user.”If you chat you got to take the catch!” Hogg replied.

If you chat you got to take the catch! https://t.co/v60pdIyBm3

— Brad Hogg (@Brad_Hogg) January 11, 2021

Meanwhile, Paine rued the fact that his inability to capitalize on the opportunities created by his bowlers on the final day as Australia squandered a golden opportunity to notch up an unassailable lead in the four-match series.

Also Read: Come To India, It’ll Be Your Last Series: Ravichandran Ashwin Shuts Down Tim Paine After Aussie Skipper’s Shameful Jibe