Tim Paine Still Very Conscious Of Team India Plotting A Fight Back In The Second Test

Despite a thumping victory in Adelaide, despite India losing two of their key players for the rest of the series, Australian captain, Tim Paine is wary of the visitors staging a comeback in the Boxing Day Test which is scheduled in Melbourne.

Australia pacers – Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood in particular – humiliated India on the third day of the Adelaide Test, dismissing the visitors for their all-time lowest Test total of 36.

The Indian skipper, Virat Kohli has returned home to attend the birth of his child. Senior pacer, Mohammed Shami has been ruled out of the remainder of the series with a fractured arm after sustaining a blow on his right hand while batting during the second innings in Adelaide off a Pat Cummins bouncer.

India is not going to roll over: Tim Paine

Ahead of the second Test match, Paine said that India is a ‘proud cricket country’ with ‘talented and dangerous cricketers’. Paine, who won his first-ever Man of the Match award in Test cricket in Adelaide for his 73*, warns his team to not take India lightly. He reminds his team about the 2019 Ashes where the series was drawn despite Australia taking lead twice.

As quoted by India Today, Tim Paine said, “We can’t pay any attention to mental scars, whatever that people are talking about. We know India is a proud cricket country. They are an extremely talented Test match side with lots of dangerous players.”

“The moment we take our foot off the pedal and think we are going all right, we saw in England in that fifth Test, that we can come unstuck pretty quickly. So, a huge focus of ours since that fifth Test in the Ashes has been winning after winning and our attitude towards the next game,” Paine added.

The 36-year-old opines that India is not going to be easy to defeat; the visitors won the Test in Melbourne a couple of years ago. The wicket-keeper would want his bowlers to carry on with the same rhythm as in the opening match- which would put the series in their pocket. The Tasmania-born acknowledges the importance to have a good first day, be it with bat or ball.

“We know they [India] is not going to roll over. We are going to have to work our backsides off to get them in a position like we did in Adelaide. If we can do it again, then Tests three and four can become a real battle for them. But, first, we have got to start well and put them back under the pump,” said the Aussie skipper.

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