Tim Paine defends Steve Smith amidst 'cheating' claims, says batsman was 'shadow batting'

On Day 5 of  India vs Australia 3rd Test in Sydney, former Australian captain Steve Smith was accused of resorting to a cheap tactic in ir quest to secure a win and take a 2-1 lead in series. right-hander was caught on stump camera while intentionally scratching up Indian wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant's guard during drinks break in first session. 

ALSO READ | Rishabh Pant tweets with pride after SCG draw, Indian keeper turns from 'Zero to Hero'

Tim Paine opens up on 'Steve Smith cheating India' claims

Indian southpaw was taking Australian bowlers to cleaners and was successfully able to pile pressure back on m which is why Australian tried to distract Indian stumper. Pant had to mark his guard all over again after resuming batting post drinks break. video of same went viral on social media in time. Fans were left fuming after Smith used what is widely being considered as a cheap trick to put off Pant. 

w, Australian captain, Tim Paine has opened up on incident and defended Smith saying that 31-year old meant thing malicious to Pant by scraping Pant's guard. While speaking to ESPNCricinfo, Paine said that he spoke to Smith about incident and added that he is extremely disappointed with how it has come across. Explaining Smith's actions, Paine reckoned that if you've watched Smith play Test cricket, that's something he does every single game, five or six times a day.

ALSO READ | Sourav Ganguly lauds Pant, Pujara & Ashwin for saving SCG test, says 'time to win series'

Paine furr said that Smith is always standing in batting crease, shadow batting. According to Paine, Smith has got numerous idiosyncrasies and one of m is always marking centre. Pant assured that Smith was certainly t changing guard and added that if he was n Indian players would have complained about same at time.

ALSO READ | Rishabh Pant creates ar BIG all-time record, fans shocked as MS Dhoni left behind

Australian captain opined that when Smith is in field, he likes to walk up to where he bats and visualize how he's going to play. Paine stated that a day ago, you could see Smith up re, playing a couple of shots as a left-hander to show Nathan Lyon to where to pitch ball. Paine reiterated that one of his mannerisms is marking centre which he does a lot.

He reassured that Smith wasn't by any stretch of imagination trying to change guard or do anything like that. Paine also said that if people look back at foot y'll see it happens probably more than once a Test match with him. However, Pant ackwledged that w that re has been a fuss about it, it's something Smith might have to look at because of perception of it.

ALSO READ | Rishabh Pant sent back by Nathan Lyon after blistering 97, fans laud Indian keeper: WATCH

SOURCE: CRICKET.COM.AU