"He stood up to take on the Indian players" - Brett Lee backs Tim Paine to remain Australia's Test captain

Former Australian speedster Brett Lee has thrown his weight behind skipper Tim Paine, despite the 36-year-old losing the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the second time at home against the inspired visitors.

Many believe Tim Paine is not the right man to lead the Australian Test team and have called for his sacking. His questionable tactics as well as dropped catches in Sydney saw the hosts draw a game despite having 131 overs to bowl out Team India.

Tim Paine reflects on being outplayed by a disciplined and tough side.Congratulations, India! 👏#AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/vSbYVvZIM2

— ICC (@ICC) January 19, 2021

It was also under Tim Paine's captaincy, Australia ended their 32-year unbeaten streak at the Gabba, as Team India chased down 328 runs on the last day to win the fourth Test by three wickets. However, speaking to foxsports.com.au, Brett Lee explained why Tim Paine needs to remain the Australian captain in the longest format of the game:

"I think since he's taken over the captaincy, he's shown real good leadership qualities. And look, there's been a lot written about Tim Paine behind the stumps. He's grassed a few chances, but who hasn't? You look at all the keepers in history, and I'm sure there would be plenty who had leaner periods behind the stumps," Brett Lee said.

Apart from speaking about Tim Paine's wicketkeeping, Brett Lee also lauded the 36-year-old's batting prowess.

Tim Paine was the fourth-highest run-scorer for Australia in the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, scoring 204 runs at a healthy average of 40.8.

"With the bat, you can't fault him. He goes along with Marnus Labuschagne as having one of the best techniques in the team. He stood up and took on the Indian players," Brett Lee added.

"His captaincy has been really good" - Brett Lee on Tim Paine

Tim Paine dropped three catches in Sydney on Day 5.

Despite losing the series 2-1, Brett Lee urged everyone to look at the positives about Tim Paine's captaincy.

It was under Tim Paine's leadership, Australia had annihilated India inside three days at the Adelaide Oval.

I wish I could say I’m shocked by the comments about @tdpaine36 but I’m not. Typical Australians like to slam our own. This bloke through hard work has got our cricket team back to being a respectable outfit. Yes we lost the series but stand by him and back him in! The end.

— Tex Walker (@texwalker13) January 20, 2021

Although Brett Lee understands Tim Paine could have tried other tactics in Sydney, the fact that he had Team India under pressure for the entire Day 5 spoke volumes about his captaincy.

"His captaincy has been really good. As I said, in Sydney there were maybe a few other things he could have tried, but put yourself in that situation — he's under the pump - he's had a few players go down as well, there's chances (gone begging) when they're trying to take those last five wickets," Brett Lee said.

Tim Paine probably remains the best option to lead Australia at the moment despite the series loss to India. However, Australia will now need to win at least two Tests in their upcoming tour of South Africa to five themselves a chance of making the World Test Championship final.

It was in South Africa where it all began for Tim Paine as a Test captain. He was handed the reins of the Australian team after Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner were banned for their roles in the Sandpapergate scandal.