Michael Vaughan slams Aus skipper Tim Paine for his poor conduct behind stumps in SCG Test

Former English skipper Michael Vaughan has slammed Australia's current Test skipper Tim Paine for his bad behaviour behind the stumps during the recently-concluded third Test match at the Sydney Cricket Ground. 

The wicket-keeper batsman indulged in a verbal spat with on-field umpire Joel Wilson on Day 3 for which he was fined 15 per cent of his match fee and later i.e. on the final day's play, he was heard bad-mouthing India's veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.

'Very very poor !!': Michael Vaughan

Taking to the micro-blogging site, Vaughan wrote that the captain of Australia since the infamous sandpaper incident in March 2018 (where Steve Smith was sacked for his involvement in the scandal and Paine was appointed as the Test captain) has led this team with great distinction, attitude and according to the Englishman has never once crossed the line of negativity.

However, talking about the profane language that Paine had made use of behind the stumps on Day 5 which also included sledging reminded the cricketer-turned-cricket pundit of the old days of Australian cricket. 

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Tim Paine's unsportsmanlike behaviour behind the stumps

Paine was constantly at it as he was trying to get under the skin of Indian batsmen R Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari by provocative chatter. However, the Indian spinner was also sharp with his response as he shut down the Australian skipper with an epic reply. While Ashwin was batting, Paine who was standing behind the stumps, quipped that he cannot wait to see Ashwin at the Gabba where the fourth and final match is going to be played. Ashwin, who is known for his wit, cleverly replied saying that he cannot wait to see Paine in India which also would be the last series of his career. With that, Ashwin also took a dig at Paine's age and strength left to continue playing cricket.

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Moreover, prior to that as well, Paine had sledged the Indian duo who suffered injuries during their time at crease but kept up with the fight. After suffering an injury, Vihari was being checked on by the team physio and was subsequently wearing his thigh pad.

That's when an annoyed Paine yelled: "It's ridiculous. Get on with it. Seriously".

As the match slipped away from Australia's grasp, the Tasmanian cricketer, took a dig at Ravichandran Ashwin during the final session of the contest where he had sledged the Tamil Nadu all-rounder for not having many friends within his own team before swearing at him.

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