Australia vs India: Tim Paine gives an update on his finger injury

In a much-needed boost for Australia, their skipper Tim Paine has confirmed that his index finger is all right. The wicketkeeper-batsman had suffered a blow to it during the recently-concluded first Test against India in Adelaide.

While facing Mohammed Shami in the second innings, Paine gloved a short ball down to square leg and immediately called the medical staff, sending a scare through the dressing room. But after receiving treatment, he resumed his innings before departing for 41.

It was the same finger where he has had several operations since breaking it in 2010. Not surprisingly, there were doubts over whether he would be fit for the upcoming second Test. However, Paine has cleared all the apprehensions and said that he is fit to play the upcoming Test. “The finger’s fine, good to go,” he said when asked about it during a Facebook Live chat with the Australian Men’s Cricket Team page following the match.

India deserved to win

India, meanwhile, piled more misery on Paine by winning the first Test by 31 runs and go one up in the four-match series. The game took a massive turn on day five as Australia’s stubborn tail revived their team’s hopes after they were reduced to 187 for 7 while chasing an improbable 323. However, India managed to bowl out the hosts for 291 to register only their sixth win on Australian soil.

Speaking after the game, Paine expressed his disappointment over the narrow loss but credited India for their performance. He also rued the lack of contribution from the top-order while praising Cheteshwar Pujara for his knocks of 123 and 71. “It’s pretty shattering. But India thoroughly deserved to win,”  said Paine. “We thought we could do it. But our batters couldn’t bat for long enough with our tail to win. I thought Pujara was probably the difference between the two sides.”

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~Written by Bijoy