Australian Captain Tim Paine, who was once caught up in the controversies for spewing venom against India and the Indian Cricket Team, has grabbed the eyeballs of people yet again. However, this time it is the sexting scandal of 2017 that has come back to bite him.
Tim Paine in ‘pain’:
Tim Paine has stepped in with the decision to resign as captain of the Australian Test Cricket team. The massive backlash for a sexting scandal in which he had sent some unsolicited pictures to a then-colleague at Cricket Tasmania in November 2017, has forced the Australian cricketer to proceed with this step. The decision came nineteen days before he was supposed to lead the team against England in the upcoming Ashes tournament.
Paine’s sexting scandal:
On the eve of the First Test of the Ashes series at the Gabba in Brisbane in November 2017, Paine had sent an obscene picture of his manhood to his then-colleague. Even though, the leaked chats displayed both parties being equally flirtatious, the woman, however, appeared to be offended by the graphic messages she had received.
Paine had asked the female to perform sex acts in the messages. One of the messages read, “Need to ease the tension … Finish me off with those lips then.”
Afterwards, Paine was investigated in 2018 after the woman had accused him of sexual harassment in a letter to Cricket Australia, Cricket Tasmania, and the Australian Human Rights Commission. However, he was acquitted as it was stated that the cricketer had not breached the code of conduct.
Paine abused India:
Tim’s prior controversies in which he had abused India and Indian cricketers as well, clearly depicts the kind of personality he holds. Earlier this year, he had shamelessly abused Indian Cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin with extreme utterances.
During crosstalk in the final session of the Sydney test this year, Paine told Ashwin, “I can’t wait to get you to the Gabba Ash (Ashwin). I will tell you what, woo hoo (incessant laughter).”
In response, Ashwin asserted, “Just like we want to get you to India that will be your last series.”
Paine went on to use abusive language and stated, “At least my teammates like me, dickhead. I’ve got a lot more Indian friends than you do. Even your teammates think you’re a goose. Don’t they? Every one of them.”
In the aftermath of using such offensive words, Paine was forced to apologize.
Later, in another incident, he attempted to defame India. He stated that India distracted the Aussies with “niggling” and “sideshows”. While interacting with the media at a Chappell Foundation function in Sydney, Paine had stated: “Part of the challenge of playing against India is they’re very good at niggling you and trying to distract you with stuff that doesn’t really matter and there were times in that series where we fell for that.”
36 years old Paine is currently witnessing the downfall of his career. He had already given indications to step down from captaincy after the Ashes series but followed by his misconduct towards individuals, he was forced to resign before the series.