I am not going to go into it and get my back and forth with Sunny Gavaskar: Tim Paine

After the third Test between India and Australia in Sydney, Australian captain Tim Paine faced a lot of heat from the former cricketers and critics. The wicketkeeper-batsman had a tough game, especially the last three days. It all started with him showing his frustration to Paul Wilson after the umpire had a few inconsistent umpiring decisions. His frustration was caught on stump mic and based on that, he was charged 15% of his match fees as a penalty. However, hell broke loose on him on day five as the skipper had an off day. 

Former Indian skipper and cricket expert, Sunil Gavaskar after the match had some unkind words for the Aussie captain. According to the legendary batsman, Paine should be removed as the captain of Australia. Gavaskar didn’t like the tactics of sledging attempted by him in trying to assert some pressure on Ravichandran Ashwin. 

Paine, during a press conference, addressed this and gave his opinion on the matter. Gavaskar had said that the way Paine was playing, it is “unbefitting of a national team captain”. He also predicted that he might lose the position in months to follow. 

Paine was asked, had he come across the statement or not and to which he responded. He said, “I had, but I am not going to go into it and get my back and forth with Sunny Gavaskar, I think I am not going to win that.”

Sunil Gavaskar is entitled to his opinion: Tim Paine

The Tasmanian after this said that he feels Gavaskar is entitled to his own opinion. He also said that he won’t mind if the batting legend continues saying things. “He is entitled to his opinion. It doesn’t affect us one iota. It is adding to the Test match, which is great. So Sunny can keep saying what he wants to say at the end of the day, it has absolutely nothing to do with it,” he added.

Here is how Tim Paine responded

"Not going to go back & forth with Sunny Gavaskar, don't think I'm going to win"

Watch: #TimPaine responds to #SunilGavaskar's criticism of the Australian captain after the Sydney Test#AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/YBiwre0kb8

— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) January 14, 2021

During the course of day five, when Indians were battling to get a draw, it was Paine who was trying to unsettle Ashwin. He went as far as to call him a ‘d***head.’ All of this was heard on the stump mic and cricket experts didn’t take it in the right spirit.