Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar thinks India can breach the Gabba fortress and win the Test series against Australia.

India earned a memorable draw against Australia in the third Test in Sydney to keep the series 1-1 and alive. The Brisbane Test starts from Friday.

“Given the pace attack we have and the way we played on the last day at the SCG, it gives me hope that we can beat Australia at the Gabba. Brisbane is supposed to be Australia’s fortress but it can be breached by this Indian team,” Gavaskar told India Today channel on Monday.

He also heaped praise on the Indian team for their dogged performance on the last day of the third Test. “An absolute fantastic and brilliant performance. I am very very proud of this Indian team. They have given themselves a chance in this series.”

Gavaskar slammed Australia skipper Tim Paine for sledging Ravichandran Ashwin, saying his behaviour was “not befitting” of a leader and could cost him his captaincy.

“I don’t know… I am not an Australian selector, but his days as captain are numbered. If you allow the Indian team to bat 130-odd overs without losing any wicket... and this is a very good Australian attack. The bowling changes, the field placements, everything could have made a difference to the result,” the legendary cricketer said.

“Tim Paine was more interested in talking to the batsman (Ashwin) rather than his field placing and bowling changes. So I won’t be surprised if there is a change in the Australian captaincy after the series is over,” Gavaskar said. Paine dropped three catches during the match.

“Rishabh Pant got two edges — they were not difficult catches. The last one which he missed off Vihari was also which he could have left to the first slip,” the former India skipper said. “He was a little bit disturbed, his concentration was not there after that little episode with Ashwin.”

In the 122nd over, Paine could be heard on the stump mic trying to sledge Ashwin. He even used an expletive during the chatter.

“First and foremost, it was not befitting of a captain of a national team to be talking about something other than cricket,” Gavaskar said.

“By all means, you want to have a go at the opposition, you talk about their cricket, you can tell the batsmen he doesn’t know how to play, you can say he is no good. All those kind of things are completely acceptable because you’re talking cricket. But when you talk about something else, it shows your frustration. It shows you are not able to bear the fact that the opposition is putting up a fight,” he added.

Gavaskar said Paine should have focussed on the game rather than indulging in “nonsense”. “Your best bet is to concentrate on the game and try not to upset the opposition with this kind of nonsense that has no place in the game,” he said.