Tim Paine, Australia’s Test captain, has apologised to New Zealand for dismissing the Black Caps before their World Test Championship (WTC) victory against India.
Paine claimed India would beat Kane Williamson’s side “comfortably” in the WTC final, only to be mocked on social media as New Zealand won by eight wickets.
“We all get some wrong.” Paine told New Zealand radio station Newstalk ZB, “I copped a bit from the Kiwi fans, so I thought I’d come on air and eat some humble pie.” “I think the New Zealanders performed admirably.
It’s always interesting to see how they go about doing things. I absolutely respect what the Kiwis achieve on an international scale for such a little 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.”
New Zealand’s performance was outstanding as they were the better side in all the departments. Most probably the match was going to draw but the winning spirit of Kiwis turned the match in their favour.
Despite losing skipper Virat Kohli after the first test and their entire first-choice pace attack to injury throughout the four-match series, Paine’s Australia was defeated 2-1 by a severely depleted India during the home summer.