IND vs AUS | Tim Paine is an outstanding leader and he has my 100 per cent support, expresses Justin Langer
Langer trusts Tim Paine 100%
|Despite Tim Paine’s awful Test as a skipper, Justin Langer has expressed that Paine has his 100 percent backing and will continue to be a skipper for a long time. On the other hand, Langer was optimistic about Pucovski’s chances and also came in support of Steve Smith following the incident.
While the results didn’t go Australia’s favour in Sydney, there were plenty of things that went wrong for them - starting from Tim Paine’s captaincy to Will Pucovski’s injury scare. In addition, Steve Smith’s shadow-batting video also had riled up the fans and the internet, who had a go at the Australian batsman.Â
With a quick turnaround for the Gabba Test, Australia have a mighty task in hand to maintain their record at the fortress following a cold session on day five of the Sydney Test. Australian head coach Justin Langer is unfazed about the chirps around the camp, expressing his full support to Tim Paine as the leader of this Australian unit. He also added that it is quite human to have a bad game after setting a real standard leading the side.Â
"Do I have faith in Tim Paine? You have no idea how much faith I have in Tim Paine,” Langer told media, reported TOI.
“When you set a standard as high as he does, and we do, we understand we get criticised when you fall below that. It’s not what we are about. But Tim is an outstanding leader and will continue to be for some time to come yet. He has my 100% support,” he added.
Not just that, the former Australian opener also gave an update on Will Pucosvki’s injury scare, hoping that the opener returns to the playing XI for the Gabba Test.Â
"He's a young guy, he has just played his first Test. So mentally he's going to be exhausted anyway. We'll keep an eye on how he pulls up today. With shoulders, as long as he can bat OK and catch - it's not as big a deal in Test cricket ... we're really hopeful he will get up,” he added.
Langer was also quick to defend the former Australian skipper Steve Smith, who was caught in a bizarre footage shadow practising, which people claimed to have scuffed the batsmen’s mark.Â
“As for Steve Smith, I literally cannot believe some of the rubbish I’ve read – absolute load of rubbish,” said Langer.
“What Steve Smith does at the crease he does it probably most games, he’s just thinking about the game. Anyone who suggests for one millisecond he was trying to do something untoward, they’re way out of line.”Â
“On that wicket, that was that flat, and it was like concrete, you’d need 15-inch spikes to make an indent on the crease and he went nowhere near the crease,” Langer added.
