 "Australian captain Tim Paine reacts during play on the final day of the third cricket test between India and Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground")
Australia skipper Tim Paine felt 'disappointed' with himself after dropping three chances behind the stumps and said it could have changed the result of the third Test against India at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Monday.
Ravichandran Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari batted out 258 balls to help India walk away with an epic draw and head into the final Test at The Gabba, with the series level at 1-1. Paine did not have a good day behind the stumps as he ended up dropping three catches (two of Rishabh Pant and one of Hanuma Vihari).
"Obviously, all the dropped catches play a part in the result. Probably going both ways to be fair. Completely disappointed, pride myself in wicket-keeping and I haven't had too many worst days like today. It is a horrible feeling knowing that our pacers and spinners bowled their hearts out and gave everything to the team. I certainly feel that I let them down," Paine said in the post-match press conference.
He also tried his best to distract Ravichandran Ashwin with constant chatter behind the stumps. But in the end, it did not have an effect.
"There was a bit of byplay going on, they were wasting a bit of time, we were letting them know, Ashwin had a bit to say back, it's all a part of the game, no harm done," Paine said.
Commenting on the result of the game, the wicket-keeper said they wanted to win the game but missed chances and the resilience showed by India changed the result of the game.
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"We wanted to win the game, I thought we created enough chances to do so. I would not say it is deflating, I think there is a lot of positive out of this game. It was an awesome game of Test match cricket. India fought really hard like we thought they would. Clearly, very disappointed not to get a win but there were some good signs for us after the Melbourne Test," Paine said.
"I still think it was a pretty good Test match wicket. Catches dropped, plenty of chances created and as I said India fought really hard and they deserved a result like that," he added.
Batting out 258 balls with a fierce home team throwing everything it had up its sleeves is no mean feat. But the Indian duo of Vihari and R Ashwin stood ground and managed to do just that as they eked out a draw in what was nothing short of an action-packed fifth day. Batting out 131 overs -- the most India have batted in the fourth innings of a Test since 1980 -- showed exactly what Ashwin meant when he spoke about playing like true warriors at the end of the fourth day's play at the SCG.
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