Former Australian skipper Mark Taylor said he was quite impressed with current Test captain Tim Paine’s collectedness and ability to not get carried away after Australia managed to salvage a hard-fought draw in the first Test against Pakistan in Dubai.
“He went to the press conference and didn’t get carried away,” Taylor told Sports Sunday. “He said, ‘look, we were outplayed. Let’s not get carried away with the draw. We are delighted it’s still a nil-all series with one to go, but we have got to play better to win’.
“I think he set a lot of really good standards for Australian cricket going into the future by the way he played and the way he captained and the way he handled the press conference.”
Usman Khawaja and Paine battled it out for four sessions to help their team survive with a draw. While Khawaja crafted a 302-ball 141, Paine played 194 deliveries for his unbeaten 61.
“That last ball summed it up to me really well,” Taylor said. “It was a game where Australia were behind from Day 1 right through to the very last ball, and even though he played it out, he didn’t get carried away.
