'Was close to buying adult diapers' - Aussie batter admits about Pune 2017 fiasco ahead of India-Australia Test
Matt Renshaw may have been one of Australia's positives with the bat from their previous trip to India for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but the left-hander is still remembered for a funny mishap that took place earlier in the 2017 series.
On his first Test tour of India, Renshaw finished as Australia's second-highest run-maker with 232 runs, including two half-centuries. However, it isn't his runs that stand as the player's lasting memory from a series that witnessed a hard-fought battle and finished with a peerlessly close 2-1 scoreline.
It's the untimely bathroom break that the then-21-year-old had in the middle of his innings on Day 1 of the first Test in Pune. Batting on 15* in the first session, the opener started running off the field, calling the next batter in with his hands held high, making for a curious departure.
The reason for the escape was a bathroom emergency that the cricketer underwent, leading to confused and funny scenes for all present on the ground. Even Steve Smith, the next man that Renshaw was calling in, wore an amusing look about him when the cameras panned across to the Aussie dressing room.
Was close to buying diapers - Matt Renshaw on Pune mishap
"I was in the chemist the other day and I walked past and saw some adult diapers and I was so close to buying them," Renshaw on his second tour of India told The Australian. "I’d just rather be safe than sorry! I’ll try and keep the diet under control so everything else can be sorted."
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At the time, former Australia captain and batting great Allan Border was critical of Renshaw about the incident. The batter did comeback to make an important 68 in what remains a famed Australian victory, their first on Indian shores since 2004.
The player recently made his comeback to the Test side after five years via the New Year's Test at SCG, where also he found himself in the midst of an interesting turn of events, being found Covid positive shortly after the start of play but continued to take part in the fixture as per medical advice.
Renshaw compared the Pune Test mishap with the SCG Covid tussle and said "I’d rather have Covid than go off to the toilet every day of the week."
"It was definitely different (being isolated from teammates at the SCG). As I said to a few of the boys, it’ll be another good chapter in my book," he added. "It was just so strange. I didn’t feel like I was terribly Covid sick, I just felt like I had a bit of hay fever. Then had to test, tested positive, then straight into another dressing room."