Tim Paine's behaviour does not befit a captain, should be removed as Australia skipper: Sunil Gavaskar

Batting great Sunil Gavaskar lambasted Tim Paine for resorting to dirty sledging as he said his behaviour doesn’t befit that of a captain and Paine should be removed as the Australia skipper after the series.

As Ravichandran Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari battled physical pain to steer India to a draw, Paine aimed at unsettling Ashwin with sledging during the 122nd over of the innings. On two occasions, Ashwin took the guard and backed away as verbal sledging continued from Paine.

Paine's unsportsmanlike behaviour and dirty sledging were slammed by Sunil Gavaskar after the Indian team batted resiliently through the final day to snatch a remarkable draw in the third test against Australia on Monday. Sunil Gavaskar also pointed out that Paine should focus on taking catches and leading his side better rather than talking.

"First and foremost, it was unbefitting of a captain of a national team to be talking about something other than cricket. By all means, you want to have a go at the opposition, you talk about their cricket, you can tell the batsmen he doesn't know how to play, you can say he is no good. All those kinds of things are completely acceptable because you're talking cricket. But when you talk about something else, it shows your frustration. It shows you are not able to bear the fact that the opposition is putting up a fight," Sunil Gavaskar.

"At the end of the day, the Indians had the last laugh. R Ashwin had the last laugh for whatever Tim



Paine was saying. I don't know I am not an Australian selector, but his days as captain are numbered. If you allow the Indian team to bat 130-odd overs without getting wickets, this is a very good Australian attack. The bowling changes, the field placements, everything could have made a difference to the result," Gavaskar added.

"But Tim Paine was more interested in talking to the batsman rather than his field placing and bowling changes. So I won't be surprised if there is a change in the Australian captaincy after the series is over. If you drop simple catches, Rishabh Pant got two edges, they were not difficult catches, the last one which he missed off Vihari was also which he could have left to the first slip. He was a little bit disturbed, his concentration was not thereafter that little episode with R Ashwin.

"But see, this game, I had the former Australian captain sitting next to me and doing commentary. He said this game has a wonderful way of coming back and biting you on the back. Your best bet is to concentrate on the game and try not to upset the opposition with this kind of nonsense that has no place in the game," Gavaskar further said.Indian fans had also lambasted the Australian captain for getting desperate and resorting to cheap tactics. Notably, Hanuma Vihari combined with Ashwin to defy Australia's attack in a partnership over the last three hours of the match that kept alive India's hopes of a second successive series triumph Down Under.