Australia’s captain Pat Cummins, second right, celebrates with teammates after the dismissal of India’s Ravichandran Ashwin during the day three of the second cricket test match between Australia and India at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide, Australia. (AP)
Former Australia Test captain Tim Paine showered praise on Australia’s senior pros for stepping up in the Adelaide Test after losing in Perth.
Australia lost the first Test in Perth by 295 runs but bounced back in style to win in Adelaide by 10 wickets. The third Test between Australia and India at Gabba in Brisbane starts on Saturday.
“A bit of relief I would have thought, no doubt,” Paine told SEN Breakfast.
“We spoke a couple of days ago about the pressure that was on them and the response that people were wanting to see.
“This is a harshly treated team at times, but they are one of the great teams.
Australia’s captain Pat Cummins, center without cap, celebrates with teammates after the dismissal of India’s KL Rahul during the day two of the second cricket test match between Australia and India at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide, Australia, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/James Elsby)
“They have won everything but the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and they know that, they’ve spoken about that, this is the one they want to tick off.
“I thought the way they responded under immense pressure was huge, albeit in a pink ball Test where we have a great record and India don’t get to see it that much.
“The big boys stood up I thought particularly the captain Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc – the pink ball wizard, Travis Head was amazing and Marnus I thought was really pleasing.”
Paine lauded the way Marnus Labuschagne and Nathan McSweeney fought it out in the first innings under twilight.
“I thought the last session of the first day was Test cricket at its absolute best,” Paine said.
“You’ve got an absolute champion running in full steam under lights with a pink ball.
Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne ducks to avoid a short ball by India’s captain Jasprit Bumrah on the first day of the first cricket test between Australia and India in Perth, Australia. (AP)
“You’ve got one of our absolute champions who’s averaged 60=plus at times fighting to save his career and you’ve got a kid in his second Test trying to establish himself.
“I thought both of those guys for different reasons were huge. That was just as good as professional sports get when you’ve got players that are so good fighting so desperately.
“It does not get any better than that … it doesn’t get any harder.
“For Marnus and Nathan McSweeney at different points of their career to be able to nail down get through … that just put Australia so far out in front of that Test match.”
