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'Sunny can keep saying what he wants to say, but in the end, we do not have anything to do with him.'
Australia Test captain Tim Paine said India batting great Sunil Gavaskar is entitled to his opinion about his captaincy, while stating that it does not affect him personally or his team.
Gavaskar had openly criticised Paine after the third Test in Sydney, and claimed that the wicketkeeper-batsman's days numbered as captain are numbered.
"I am not going to get into it. Going back and forth with Sunil Gavaskar, do not think I am going to win that. He is entitled to his opinion, it does not affect us one bit, if anything it is adding to the Test match. Sunny can keep saying what he wants to say, but in the end, we do not have anything to do with him," said Paine during a virtual press conference on Thursday.
Paine has received severe criticism for his behaviour behind the stumps during the Sydney Test. He has also apologised for his conduct during the final day, saying his sledging of Ravichandran Ashwin fell short of the standards he has set for the team.
"I want to apologise for the way I went about things, I'm someone who prides himself on the way he leads this team and yesterday was a poor reflection of that," he had said on Tuesdauy.
"My leadership wasn't good enough, I let the pressure of the game get to me. Yesterday, I fell short of my expectations and my team's standards.
"I'm human, I want to apologise for the mistakes I made yesterday ... we've set really high standards over the last 18 months and yesterday was a bit of a blip on the radar."
The 36-year-old said he had felt "off" for the entire match, during which he was also fined 15% of his match fee for swearing while complaining to an umpire.