During an impromptu press conference on Tuesday, Australian captain Tim Paine apologised for his conduct at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) during the third Test against India.
Paine lost his cool multiple times during the match and resorted to verbal abuse as India's star off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin frustrated the Aussies with his batting in the last session of the match. Ashwin was one of the heroes for India on the final day of the match, helping the team to draw the game in unplayable bowling amid sledging. The stump mic picked up the Australian skipper launching verbal slurs at Ashwin, having been unable to dismiss him.
Despite the best verbal efforts, the 36-year-old Australian skipper could not put up a good performance for his fans. Paine dropped three significant catches, twice for Indian wicket keeper batsman Rishabh Pant, who scored a brilliant 97 runs, and once for Hanuman Vihari.
Paine said he "fell short of the standards he has set for the team. I'm human, I want to apologise for the mistakes that I made yesterday. We've set really high standards over the last 18 months and yesterday was a bit of a blip on the radar".
Australia's captain said that he ended up "looking like a fool" by sledging, which in cricket means gaining an advantage by insulting or verbally intimidating an opposing player, in this case Ashwin.
Ashwin and his partner on the pitch, batsman Hanuma Vihari batted through the last few hours of the match to save a draw and keep the series tied at 1-1.
The fourth Test between India and Australia in Brisbane is scheduled between 15 and 19 January.
