BRISBANE: Australia coach Justin Langer gave under-fire skipper Tim Paine his “100 percent” support and blasted criticism of Steve Smith as “absolute rubbish” Wednesday after a backlash against their behaviour in the drawn third Test against India in Sydney.
Paine’s captaincy has been questioned after he launched an ugly verbal tirade at India’s Ravi Ashwin and Smith was accused of foul play after appearing to scuff up batsman Rishabh Pant’s guard at the crease during a tense final day.
But an indignant Langer was having none of it.
“Do I have faith in Tim Paine? You have no idea how much faith I have in Tim Paine,” he said on a Zoom call.
“He…
