Australia captain Tim Paine has blamed his team’s batting and fielding efforts for their defeat against India on Tuesday in the second Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.

Paine also gave credit to the India bowlers and said that they bowled with great discipline. He also heaped praises on the Indian batsmen for executing plans better than the Aussie batsmen have been.

“India are bowling well. They have been extremely disciplined. We haven’t really been able to get partnerships together. But from what I have seen watching Marnus and Steve Smith, this is not the first time. teams have targetted their stumps. That happens every single Test match. Having said that these guys are executing it better. Someone like Steve in particular hasn’t been able to get in yet. Once he gets in, he will find a way as he always does, the rest will follow suit and need to,” said Paine while speaking to the media on Tuesday.

Paine said there won’t be big changes and added that the team needs to play better.

“We just need to bat better. No matter who is there, we just need to scoring runs. That is our job as the top 7 in Australian cricket team. If you are not then obviously they (selectors) will look at other people. But yeah, these are the best we have at the moment but they have not been good enough to get the job done.”

India on Tuesday defeated Australia by eight wickets in the Boxing-Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Cricket Ground to level the four-match series 1-1.

Set a target of 70 after Australia were dismissed for 200 in their second innings on Tuesday, the Indians got to the target for the loss of opener Mayank Agarwal (5) and No. 3 Cheteshwar Pujara (3).

Shubman Gill, who hit seven fours in a delightful innings, was unbeaten on 35 and skipper Ajinkya Rahane on 27.

Rahane, who scored a gritty hundred in the first innings to lead India’s comeback at the Down Under, said going in with five bowlers worked well.

“That (five-bowler plan) worked well for us nicely. We were thinking of having an all-rounder and Jadeja has been brilliant for us. Shubman, we all know his first-class career and in this game, he has shown the intent to play shots at this level. Showed composure. Siraj has shown that he can bowl with discipline. It is really difficult for debutants to bowl with discipline but that’s where I think the first-class experience comes in handy,” added Rahane.