Robert 'Crash' Craddock believes the current Test match series against India could ultimately define Australian Test captain Tim Paine’s career.
Speaking on SEN Breakfast, Craddock said he didn’t feel as though the double-edged responsibilities of captaining and keeping led to Paine’s self-confessed slip ups in the drawn third Test in Sydney.
“MS Dhoni is the guy who’s the most capped in terms of doing the two roles as captain and keeper, but he was from another planet,” Craddock said.
“But even guys like Adam Gilchrist, when he led Australia to victory in India in 2004, I’m telling you he was really highly stressed, and I always sensed he was within one really bad day of reaching breaking point.
“With those stresses, it was Don Bradman who said about a century ago, with all things being equal, the captain should be someone who’s not burdened by the keeping duties.
“Tim has defied that. He never asked for the captaincy. He was promoted in a crisis in the middle of a Test match and he’s done it beautifully.
“I actually like his state of mind now. He said he was so agitated before the last Test he was pacing around the dressing room. This is huge stakes for him because this Test match defines his career in some ways.”
Craddock said the result of the fourth and final Test could have a lasting impression on how Tim Paine’s career as Test captain is viewed.
“Win this series and suddenly he’s got Australia’s house totally back in order. He’s got the Border-Gavaskar trophy back,” Craddock said.
“Lose this series to India, and suddenly you’ve lost two series on home soil, which is a rarity.”
Australia must defeat the Indians in the fourth Test at the Gabba, which begins on Friday, to win the series and recapture the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
The series is currently locked at 1-1 with a draw.