After suffering a 137-run defeat in the third Test against India at MCG, Australian skipper Tim Paine said the absence of banned cricketers Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft from the national side has brought inconsistency in the results.
“It is inexperience. It is pressure. India’s bowling attack being probably as good as probably most of these guys have ever faced. It is pretty clear, if you take 2 or 3 of the best players out of anyone’s lineup in the world, you’re going to struggle a little bit at times and have inconsistent performances. That’s what we are seeing” he said.
The 33-year-old further said that the Indian side would struggle too if they were without Virat Kohli or Cheteshwar Pujara. “If you took Pujara and Virat out of India’s side I think you would have the same conversation. If you have got world-class players that are not in your team, are they going to add to our team?” he said.
He further added: “So while at the moment it’s challenging and everyone’s frustrated, it is what it is and everyone is working hard and we’re getting guys who are getting the experience of high-pressure situations in Test cricket and learning on the job. At times you’re going to get inconsistency from guys that are in that situation. The silver lining is that we have got world-class players that are available soon to come back into this side and clearly when they do it will make a huge difference.”
Talking about the goals for the final Test, Paine said: “That’s the goal for us, to win the Test and draw the series. I think there will be a lot of things on the table in the next day or two and I’ve got some thoughts on what I think. We’ve got the best group of players available to us at the moment and we’ll pick the best combination out of that group that we think will win this last Test.”
