Tim Paine had a very bad outing at the SCG: Kamran Akmal

Tim Paine did not have a good Test match at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). In fact, he would like to forget it as soon as possible. In the first innings of the third Test, he was dismissed for just a single run, spilled a handful of straightforward chances behind the stumps and on top of that, was involved in an ugly spat with Ravichandran Ashwin for which the Australian skipper received a lot of backlash.

Sunil Gavaskar even opined that Paine should be removed as the Australian captain immediately after the series. The Indian side showed a lot of grit and character in their second innings with their willow wielders standing up to the Australian bowlers, and thereby, the match ended in a draw, with India playing out 131 overs in their second innings.

Pakistan wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal is of the opinion that the Aussies worked hard, put in effort and tried their best to win, but they could not. He also added that he is happy that Tim Paine is not playing for the Pakistan side and said that if he did, he would have had to deal with a lot of opprobrium, just like how Akmal received when he was the gloveman for the ‘Men in Green’.

“I am glad that Pakistan wasn’t playing there and he [Tim Paine] wasn’t in a Pakistan team or else they would have said so many things about him [Tim Paine]. Now I will see what will be said by those people who have spoken about me at length. It was an interesting Test and the Australian side made a lot of efforts. They did not lose hope anywhere in the match that they could not win. This fighting attitude was their greatest asset,” said Akmal in a YouTube video.

Tim Paine couldn’t make a mark at SCG with gloves, says Kamran Akmal

Akmal also added that the Australian fielding let them down. Akmal further opined that the greatest quality of the kangaroos is that they do not make mistakes on the field. But, he stated that the Aussies made all their mistakes on a single day and agreed that Paine had a bad outing with the gloves. Akmal concluded by saying that if Australia had latched on to all their chances, they would have been celebrating.

“Australia would have been celebrating a win if they had taken their catches. This did not happen, however. The fielding did not allow this to happen. You can have good and bad days on the field. The specialty of the Australian side is that they do not make many mistakes. They made all their mistakes in a single day. Tim Paine had a very bad outing. This happens. Every keeper drops catches but what can we say,” concluded Akmal.