Brisbane: Australia skipper Tim Paine has said he is not worried about the lack of wicket-taking form of Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Starc as he took the blame on himself for squandering opportunities to deny them wicket on the last day of the third Test against India in Sydney.
Lyon has taken just six wickets while Starc has taken nine in the three Tests of the series so far.
“I think he (Lyon) has bowled okay. I thought in the first Test match in Adelaide, he created heaps of chances and didn’t get a hand. I thought the other day he bowled beautifully. If I hadn’t dropped a couple, it would have been a completely different story. Nathan Lyon playing 100th Test match — that is not easy. Absolutely top of the tree, how good he is. I don’t think that has changed. I don’t think it will change,” said Paine on Thursday ahead of the fourth and final Test.
“No, I am not seeing any decline in him. Sometimes you get wickets, sometimes you don’t. It is still coming out of his hand beautifully. At times Indians have played him well, at times he has bowled well. Looking at the footage, he has created chances, some of which we have dropped. He will have a huge role to play in this Test,” added the Australia skipper.
Paine said that Starc is being his natural self — sometimes consistent, sometimes inconsistent.
“He is just that type of bowler. Some days he is what he is, he looks like he one of the great bowlers of the world and the next day he has a bad day like the rest of us. Even in the last day at Sydney, he had a nice spell. We know how good he is. We know on his day, he can rip the Test match apart. But that is not going to happen every day,” added Paine.
The wicketkeeper-batsman blamed himself.
“My role with him was to keep him nice and calm and keep him clear on what I and we expect of him and he is a type of bowler when he gets simple clear instructions that keep him clear, he normally brings the house down. My mood around Day 5 — that was the reason why he wasn’t at his best. Again it is me getting back to basics. Keeping him nice and relaxed. Keeping him clear on what we want him to do and when we do that, he more often than not does well,” said Paine.
The Aussie fast bowlers got a very little time for turnaround. They bowled 131 overs on the fourth and fifth days of the drawn third Test at the SCG and are getting just three days to recuperate from the toil.
“We tried to rejuvenate all three of our fast bowlers last week. It was a big Day 5 for them, big week and short turnaround. Those guys are very good at doing that. They are professionals. The reason why they are great cricketers is because they are extremely durable. They are about to play their fourth Test back to back,” said Paine.
The fourth match of the series beginning Friday at The Gabba will be broadcast on Sony Ten 1, Sony Ten 3 and Sony Six channels.
IANS
