|| Desk Report ||
Australia’s Test captain Tim Paine has admitted that Test series loss to India in the last season still "grinds" him. However, he said that Australia now has a better side that will take on the visitors - India. India beat Australia 2-1 to win their maiden Test series in 2018-19, which was, however, Paine's first assignment as a captain on home soil as well.
The wicket-keeper batsman was handed over the reign after the infamous ball-tampering scandal in 2018 that saw the then skipper Steve Smith and his Deputy David Warner’s involvement and ban for a year.
"Certainly for me sitting back it still annoys me that we lost that Test series," Paine told 2GB's Wide World of Sports radio. "Whether we had Steve or David or not you don't want to be losing any Test matches or Test series you're involved in, so that still grinds me a little bit."
However, he further added that every player involved in the last season has improved in the last couple of years. Moreover, Steve Smith and David Warner’s return will make them formidable as well.
Although India had won the first and third Test at Adelaide and Melbourne respectively, Australia won the second game at Perth with the final match ending in a draw. Paine, who has led Australia to 10 Test victories in 19 games, shared that the loss will motivate the players involved in the series to do better and even Warner and Smith are ready to show their caliber.
The two teams are all set to face each other on Australian soil in a four-match Test series with the opening Day-Night Test in Adelaide starting December 17. However, the limited-overs series will begin on November 27.
"Everyone is absolutely pumped. The key is going to be last time we didn't get enough runs, this time, I think a few of our players have spoken about it. If we can make their fast bowlers bowl more overs than last time, I think our attack showed we can get the 20 wickets one way or another,” Paine concluded.
