SYDNEY: Australia captain Tim Paine said he felt he had let down his bowlers with his atrocious wicket-keeping as India batted through the final day of the third Test for a draw on Monday.

Paine thought Australia’s pace unit and spinner Nathan Lyon had created enough chances to bowl out the tourists for a win and a 2-1 series lead if only the rest of the team had taken their catches.

“I’m bitterly disappointed, I pride myself on my wicket-keeping and I probably haven’t had many worse days than that today,” he told reporters. “It’s a horrible feeling knowing that our fast bowlers and our spinner bowled their hearts out and gave everything to the team.

“I certainly feel that I let them down and I’ve got to wear that. But I’m a big boy and I get another chance next week.”

Although disappointed at being held to a draw from such a strong position, Paine said there were positives to take out of the match — not least their two highest innings tallies of the series.

“I thought it was an awesome game of Test match cricket. I thought India fought bloody hard, as we knew they would,” he said. “We’re certainly back closer to where we want to be as a batting group, still probably left a few out there in the first innings but I think there are some positive signs.”

Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2021