Australia skipper Tim Paine's surprising decision to declare their first innings early against Pakistan in the second Test here on Saturday has not gone down well with cricket fans. David Warner was unbeaten on 335 when Paine declared the innings at 589/3 and netizens felt the Aussie opener could have broken former West Indies batsman Brian Lara's record of unbeaten 400 in a Test against England in Antigua.
A user wrote: "Tim Paine mate I really couldn't find a reasonable logic for you depriving fellow mate David David Warner getting 400, it is just 127 overs, 3 and half days to go, Australia already leads the series. If PAK gets 350, u would have to bat again, mate what would Australia miss without you."
Another user slammed Paine for the call and said: "Tim Paine crushed once in a lifetime opportunity for any player. If David Warner stayed there for 10-11 odd over he could have easily surpassed Brain Lara's record."
"This is an easy win for Australia. Definitely Tim Paine was jealous or something.... He knew if he'd let it go for another while, Warner would be in 370s or 380s then it'll look blatant," another fan wrote.
Another fan suggested the Aussie skipper should have informed Warner during the drinks break to complete his ton as early as possible. "Tim paine should have waited for 10 more overs. He should have sent message to Warner in drink breaks to complete his 4th ton ASAP," he wrote.
With the triple hundred, Warner's score is now the highest individual score at the ground as he surpassed Don Bradman's 299. He also went past Don Bradman's score of 334, which was also the highest score of former Australia skipper Mark Taylor.
The highest individual score for an Australia lies with opener Matthew Hayden with 380. He hit that against Zimbabwe in 2003 in Perth.