Australia vs India: Tim Paine responds to the friendly ‘babysitter’ banter

The third Test, which India won by 137 runs, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) was a witness to a couple of hilarious banter between wicketkeepers Tim Paine, also the Australian captain, and Rishabh Pant. When the latter came to bat in the visitors’ first innings, Paine called him a ‘babysitter’ and also offered him a deal to play for Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League (BBL).

Nevertheless, the 21-year-old Pant didn’t throw in the towel and called Paine a ‘temporary captain’ when the Paine came to bat during Australia’s run-chase. Later, Tim’s wife Bonnie Maggs added more humour to the friendly banter. She posted a picture on his Instagram story where Pant was carrying their children. Moreover, she captioned the photo and wrote ‘best babysitter’.

I enjoy the way he goes about it

After all the reactions from people on the funny incident, Paine finally opened up on it. He said that the incident took place at Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s residence in Sydney on Sunday. Moreover, he also heaped praises on the Uttarakhand-born Young Turk and went on to say that he would’ve loved to play like Pant when he was of the Indian keeper’s age.

“Yeah, that was interesting. We were at the PM’s house yesterday. Just had a quick chat to Rishabh. My wife was happened to be there so we just grabbed a quick photo. He was a good sport and he is on the field, to be honest,” Paine was quoted as saying in a press conference.

“A fair bit has been made of a little bit of banter between two wicketkeepers, which has been pretty light-hearted and pretty friendly. I enjoy the way he goes about it. I wish I played that way when I was his age. He looks like he has a hell of a lot of fun,” he added.

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