The India series Down Under against Australia was anything but a surprise for the cricket fans as an injured Men in Blue managed to defeat the Aussies at the Gabba and clinch the historic series 2-1.

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However, months after the completion of the series, Australia's Test captain Tim Paine said that his side "took their eye off the ball" as they were distracted by the "sideshows" of the visitors.

Paine stated that India were initially hesitant to travel to Brisbane and Australia did not know where the final Test of the series was going to be played. 

While addressing the media at a Chappell Foundation function, Paine added that India are good at trying to distract others with things that don't matter. "Part of the challenge of playing against India is they're very good at niggling you and trying to distract you with stuff that doesn't really matter and there were times in that series where we fell for that," Paine was quoted as saying by news.com.au.

"The classic example was when they said they weren't going to the Gabba so we didn't know where we were going. They're very good at creating these sideshows and we took our eye off the ball," he added.

As soon as the comments were made, netizens started to create memes around Paine's 'excuses.

In the series, India had lost a number of star players but still managed to create history and won in Brisbane to clinch the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. India were without the services of Virat Kohli, who flew back home after the first Test.

India were bundled for 36 -- their lowest score in Test cricket. Ajinkya Rahane took over the captaincy and got the visitors to a series-leveling win in the next Test. India then managed to secure a hard-fought draw at SCG.

In the final Test, Rishabh Pant produced a match-winning knock on the final day to help India win the four-match series 2-1.