The England vs Australia rivalry is such that no player from the two teams ever leave a chance to take a dig at each other. And with Ben Stokes-led England losing another series in India, ex-Australia captain Tim Paine could not hold happiness back. India dominated England in IND vs ENG Test series despite Rohit Sharma playing without Virat Kohli, Mohd Shami and Rishabh Pant. And Paine couldn’t be happier with the loss despite facing what is essentially India B team.
“I thoroughly enjoy watching England play the game, I love the way they are going about it. I love watching them lose. Don’t get me wrong but they are entertaining and exciting. They have been for Test cricket,” Tim Paine told Brad Haddin on Around The Wicket.
Indian B team
With no Virat Kohli, Mohd Shami or Rishabh Pant, India suffered a loss in the 1st IND vs ENG Test. However, Rohit Sharma & Co bounced back despite missing KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja in the 2nd Test.
Handing five debuts throughout the series, India banked on the youngsters like Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel and they delivered. India took a series-winning 3-1 lead in Ranchi Test and are currently dominating in the Dharamshala Test as well.
“Yeah, I think Katich has absolutely nailed it. I totally agree with him and I know what it’s like to be beaten by an Indian B team. Unfortunately, it happened to us on our home soil. But yes, some huge names out for India, which should have certainly helped the English,” Tim Paine said.
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‘England exciting team’
However, despite the loss in the series, not many have held Ben Stokes the captain accountable. Instead, many have praised them because England did put Indi ain trouble on more than one ocassions.
That India haven’t lost a home Test series in 12 years proves how difficult a host they have been.
“It sounded like a thinly veiled sledge, didn’t it? You can’t fault Ben Stokes because he has been magnificent tactically in this series. England have got a very young spin attack in tough conditions in the sub-continent but young Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Shoaib Bashir have been fantastic and Ben Stokes deserves a lot of credit for that,” Brad Haddin told Around The Wicket.
“But he has been playing against the Indian B team because there has been no Kohli, no Shami, Bumrah got rested last Test, KL Rahul is out and Rishabh Pant is still making his way back from that accident. They are not their strongest team but it just goes to show that the depth in Indian cricket is huge because there are some big names coming into this next era of Indian cricket. Jaiswal is leading the charge; young Jurel was magnificent in the last Test as well. So India are looking very strong.”
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