Sledging duel between Australia and India wicketkeepers in third Test at MCG delivers hilarious aftermath
Pant debuts as Paine family babysitter
The entertaining MCG sledging duel between the rival wicketkeepers has had a hilarious aftermath, with Rishabh Pant debuting as the Paine family babysitter.
Tim Paine's wife Bonnie posted a photo on social media of herself standing next to a beaming Pant, with her two young children either side of him and the caption "best babysitter".
The photo appears to have been taken at Tuesday's Kirribilli House function for the two teams ahead of the fourth Domain Test at the SCG.
Australian captain Paine had a sledging tit-for-tat with Pant during the Domain Boxing Day Test that was caught by the stump microphone.
First Paine had a dig while Pant was batting, noting his omission from the Indian one-day squad.
Paine suggested Pant should come to Hobart and play for the Hurricanes in the BBL.
Tim Paine doing some recruiting for the @HurricanesBBL out in the middle of the 'G... 😂 #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/6btRZA3KI7%E2%80%94 cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 28, 2018
He then added that perhaps Pant could also babysit the Paine children while he was in town.
The next day, as Paine batted in the Australian second innings, Pant had a brutal comeback.
It was Rishabh Pant's turn for some fun on the stump mic today... #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/RS8I6kI55f%E2%80%94 cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 29, 2018
"Have you heard of a temporary captain ever? Have you heard of it? Have you heard of anything like a temporary captain ever? You don't need anything to get him out, boy," the Indian 'keeper retorted.
"He loves to talk. That's the only thing he can do boy. Only talking, talking."
Pant also had the last laugh as Indian won to take a 2-1 series lead and retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
But it looks like the Australian 'keeper at least has a new babysitting option.
Domain Test Series v India
Dec 6-10: India won by 31 runs
Dec 14-18: Australia won by 146 runs
Dec 26-30: India won by 137 runs
Jan 3-7: Fourth Test, SCG
Australia squad: Tim Paine (c, wk), Josh Hazlewood (vc), Mitch Marsh (vc), Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc
India squad: Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya, Hanuma Vihari, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant (wk), Parthiv Patel (wk), Ravi Ashwin, Ravi Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar