Tim Paine in Doubt for the Pre-Season Camp in Brisbane for UAE Tour

Test skipper of the current Australian cricket team, Tim Paine is doubtful for the upcoming pre-season campaign of the national team which will undergo in Brisbane this month. The camp will be held in the lead-up tour of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where Australia will face Sarfraz Ahmed-led Pakistan.

Paine is awaiting the birth of his second child. The relatively experienced campaigner might be available for the two-match Test series which is slated to start from October 7 in Dubai.

“The plan is for me to stay home, get them [wife and child] home and settled in, and then I’ll leave from here,” Fairfax Media quoted Paine as saying.

 

“I should be okay. We are hoping in the next ten days we will probably have him [baby boy]. That will give me a week at home before I head off after that,” he added.

The wicket-keeper batsman took over the charge in March earlier this year when Cricket Australia suspended Steven Smith and David Warner for a year due to their involvement in the ball-tampering scandal which broke out at the Newlands at Cape Town in South Africa.

The duo of Smith and Warner has also been removed from leadership roles. While Smith cannot be handed a leadership role for two years, Warner cannot be found in a leadership role for Australia ever again.

Tim Paine has led Australia in 6 matches so far:

Paine has captained Australia in six games so far. The team has lost all the games. Australia was whitewashed 5-0 in the ODI series against England in June.

Paine managed to score only 36 runs in five innings. Meanwhile, Australia will be without the likes of Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood. Both the top class fast bowlers are currently nursing an injury.

“It’s going to be a huge challenge – we haven’t had a lot of success playing in the subcontinent,” Paine said.

 

“It’s not something we are worried about. It will be a huge opportunity. And a great place to start if we can go over there and play well and win a series,” he concluded.

Tim Paine is likely going to miss the pre-season camp in Brisbane. Also, the Australian team will fly to the UAE for the much-awaited Test series against Pakistan.