Rishabh Pant reveals why he called Tim Paine a temporary captain

India wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant has opened up on why he called Tim Paine a temporary captain. For the unversed, the incident happened during the third Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy in 2018-19 between India and Australia. During that game, Pant walked out to bat in the first innings and was welcomed by some harsh words from the then Australia Test skipper, Paine.

Paine had asked Pant about his place in the Indian team. Notably, the left-hander was dropped for the ODI series which followed after the Test series. The Delhi-born player recently revealed that he was getting irritated and thought of giving it back to him.

“ I was getting irritated because of that so I thought I’m gonna give him back. I don’t care who he is, I just have to play my cricket and I have to give him back. So that’s why I come up with all these different ideas,“ Pant said in a conversation with Jemimah Rodrigues on Dream XI’s Youtube channel.

Later, in the game, Pant gave Paine a similar treatment when the 24-year-old walked out to bat during Australia’s innings. Pant had asked Mayank Agarwal, who made his debut in the game and was fielding in close-in position, that has the latter heard about the term ‘Temporary Captain’. Pant further added that Paine loves to talk a lot.

“You got a special guest today…come on manki (Mayank Agarwal). Have you heard a word, temporary captain? Hai mank (Mayank)? Have you heard the word temporary captain ever? You don’t need anything to get him out. He loves to talk, that’s the only thing he can do,” he had said.

The team went onto win the game and gained an unassailable lead in the four-match series by 2-1. The last game in Sydney ended in a draw due to persistent rain which meant that India created history by winning their first-ever Test series Down Under.