Aaron Finch recently replaced Tim Paine as the ODI captain of Australia. Meanwhile, the Tasmania wicketkeeper said he had an idea about this decision much before and that his tour to the UK would last in white-ball cricket. Meanwhile, under his captaincy, Australia didn’t taste much success, as they got whitewashed in England ODIs, and later lost the two-match Test series 0-1 to Pakistan.
“I saw it coming before the UK tour, to be honest,” Tim Paine told cricket.com.au.
Paine talks about his captaincy stint
Moreover, Tim Paine says with Smith and Warner gone and the 2019 World Cup in everyone’s sight, there was no skipper around, and I was asked to hold the duties temporarily. Meanwhile, he admitted there was no such plan in the past, as he got informed to concentrate on the red-ball cricket solely. Also, Paine says he had accepted the call before the unusual turn of events saw him leading in Australia in 50-over cricket.
“The plan … was to focus just on Test cricket. Then obviously what happened, happened and all of a sudden, we didn’t have a captain or vice-captain. So I think it was about having some stability in the team when Justin first took over.” he added.
Meanwhile, like Tim Paine, it would be difficult for Aaron Finch to lead the Australian team in the absence of Steven Smith and David Warner. However, Australia will play three ODI matches and a single T20I against the Proteas starting in Perth on Sunday.
Australia will surprise everyone
Though Australia didn’t have the best of outings in the ODI cricket, Paine says the brand of their game could surprise everyone ahead of the 2019 World Cup.
“I think our best cricket in one-day cricket can really surprise people,” Tim Paine said.
Australia v South Africa, Gillette ODI series, November 2018:
Australia squad: Aaron Finch (C), Josh Hazlewood, Alex Carey, Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Chris Lynn, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, D’Arcy Short, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa
South Africa squad: Faf du Plessis (C), Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock, Reeza Hendricks, Imran Tahir, Heinrich Klaasen, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Chris Morris, Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Dale Steyn.