Tim Paine apologises for misconduct during Sydney Test, says my leadership wasn’t good enough

Sydney: Australia captain Tim Paine on Tuesday apologised for his misconduct on the final day’s play of the third Test between Australia and India at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Paine was caught on stump mic mouthing off India spinner R Ashwin from behind the stumps. Stump microphones picked up barbs that Australia’s skipper directed at veteran India spinner during the Nathan Lyon’s over.

However, Ashwin kept his cool and stitching an unbeaten 62-run stand with Hanuma Vihari in the final session to save the match for India and pushing it to a draw, keeping the series tied at 1-1.

On Tuesday, a day after the match, Paine addressed a press conference where he apologised for his actions at the SCG, admitting he let pressure get to him during the third Test and it affected his mood, captaincy and performance.

“I want to apologise for the way I went about things, I’m someone who prides himself on the way he leads this team and yesterday was a poor reflection of that,” he told reporters.

“My leadership wasn’t good enough, I let the pressure of the game get to me. Yesterday, I fell short of my expectations and my team’s standards.

I’m human, I want to apologise for the mistakes that I made yesterday. It’s certainly not a reflection of the way I want to lead this team. We’ve set really high standards over the last 18 months and yesterday was a bit of a blip on the radar,” he added.

The 36-year-old spoke to Ashwin after play on day five, telling him “I ended up looking the fool, didn’t I?”.

“We had a bit of a laugh about that ... and everything was fine,” he added.

The two teams will now lock horns in the fourth and final Test in Brisbane which begins from January 15. (UNI)