Australian Test captain Tim Paine who earlier said that India will take the World Test Championship trophy home comfortably has apologised to the New Zealand team his prediction got wrong and Black Caps won the Test Championship.
The 36-year-old Paine had said before the final that India “will win pretty comfortably if they play anywhere near their best”.
“We all get some wrong. I copped a bit from the Kiwi fans, so I thought I’d come on air and eat some humble pie,” Paine said on Newstalk ZB.
“I thought the New Zealanders played outstandingly. It’s always a pleasure to watch the way they go about it. For such a small nation — I’m from Tasmania, which is obviously our smallest resource state, and we punch above our weight — so I certainly respect what the Kiwis do on an international stage,” said Paine on Friday.
Australian captain also praised Kyle Jamieson for his superb bowling against India in the final where he picked 7 wickets in total and dismissed Indian skipper Virat Kohli twice.
“They’ve done well under Kane (Williamson) since they last played us… they’ve added big Kyle Jamieson, who on day 5 or 6 was outstanding, and a quality opening batter which is Devon Conway, so they’re always improving and they always seem to find these good cricketers.
“They’ve added a big, tall fast bowler who rarely misses his length, complemented by Trent Boult and Tim Southee. The height that he comes down from is clearly troubling batsmen around the world,” said Paine.
