The 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy changed a lot of things for a lot of people on both sides of the rivalry between India and Australia. 

A comeback after the heart-breaking loss at the Adelaide Oval confirmed Ajinkya Rahane as a great captain of red-ball cricket, the historic win at the Gabba made Rishabh Pant a superstar, and the iconic five-for by Mohammed Siraj made him India’s favourite bowler for the series.

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Unfortunately, the outcome of the series also had a negative impact on the Australian Test skipper Tim Paine who not only failed to perform with the bat but also ended up dropping some crucial catches over the course of the four Test matches that led to the disappointing defeat against a battered Men in Blue squad.

Now, the official Twitter handle of Hobart Hurricanes, the Big Bash League team Paine plays for, recently shared a photo of the cricketer carrying water bottles for his teammates between the games.

Australian Test Captain ✅
Water Boy ✅#TasmaniasTeam #BBL10 pic.twitter.com/ox1g7JsC6z

— Hobart Hurricanes BBL (@HurricanesBBL) January 24, 2021

And many started to troll the Aussie for becoming a “water boy”:

@JoshLFC19 I’m hearing he dropped the water too...

— Tristan Paglianiti (@TristanPaglian1) January 24, 2021

deserve this

— Niaz Muhammad (@mohammad_niaz) January 24, 2021

Cant wait to get you to the gabba matt

— BeigeBrigader (@BeigeBrigader) January 24, 2021

Thankfully, there were some other fans of the game who can appreciate what Paine was doing and came to his rescue against the unfair critics of the cricketer:

Show some bloody respect to the Australian test captain, there team is not far away from, Australian team has the most number of chances after india to enter test championship finals and don't forget he is the captain of the team who won ashes and finished india for 36

— Srikar Prabha (@SrikarPrabha) January 24, 2021

Respect captain

— Bìshwáróòp (@Bshwrp1) January 24, 2021

Please don't talk trash about @tdpaine36. Sometimes in order to break partnerships it is fair to do some verbal spat. He did it for his team but unluckily he was at wrong end of it. If @ashwinravi99 got out next ball after the spat, he will be appreciated.

— Manujain (@007manu007) January 24, 2021

Good sportsmanship ...@tdpaine36

— Shibu Dash (@ShibuDash3) January 24, 2021

The biggest controversy that took place during India’s tour of Australia involved Paine talking trash to the Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin during the third of four Tests at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Tim Paine x Curb Your Enthusiasm #IndvAus pic.twitter.com/NDSkVXFzY6

— Vithushan Ehantharajah (@Vitu_E) January 19, 2021

Unable to get Ashwin or his partner Hanuma Vihari dismissed off the field, Paine chose to try and distract the batsman by sledging him from behind the stumps but the stunt ended up backfiring when Ashwin pushed back.

Tim Paine : Can't wait to get to the Gabba.
Ashwin: Come to India, that will be your last series as captain.
Pant: Finished everything at Gabba itself. End of Tim Paine Captaincy, I guess.

— rabindra kumar patra (@iamrkpatra) January 19, 2021

To make matters worse, Paine ended up going a bit overboard in his “banter” following which he dropped a simple catch of Vihari that could have sealed the deal for the hosts. After India brought the clash to a nail-biting draw, Paine even apologised to Ashwin for not following the spirit of the game.

The final nail in the coffin was in Brisbane. Paine had said that he couldn’t wait to see Ashwin and the rest of the team at Gabba, the stadium where the Australians had not lost a single Test match in 33 years.

Even though Ashwin was unfit to play, Rishabh Pant played one of the best innings of his career to make sure that Australia’s three-decade winning streak would snap.

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