Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma snubbed as Tim Paine warns Pat Cummins to beware of this Indian player when India tours Australia

Even though Australia clean-swept the recently concluded two-match Test series against New Zealand, their former captain Tim Paine has raised a big concern for the team ahead of their next Test assignment.

Australia’s next series is the bumper home series against India. Having lost the last two home series against India, Australia will be desperate to win in the forthcoming series to reclaim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

However, Tim Paine believes it won’t be easy for the reigning ICC World Test champions as he predicted that India’s pacers will trouble Australia’s top-order batters. The former cricketer’s comments came after Australia’s top-order batters’ poor display continued in New Zealand as well.

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Tim Paine pointed out that Australia’s top-order batters are struggling since the home series against West Indies. The likes of Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja, and Marnus Labuschagne have faced criticism for their failure to score consistently in recent games.

“I’m disappointed. We’re a better team than them (New Zealand) and it was the same against the West Indies, there seems to be a bit of a pattern. Not scoring enough runs. You can’t always believe what they’re telling you but the leadership and coaching and captain and selectors say, ‘we have no concerns with our batters’. Well, I do now,” Paine said on SEN Tassie Breakfast.

Paine said that the Australians were concerned about the top order of Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja, and Marnus Labuschagne, who have not been able to stitch a good run of form. Khawaja registered scores of 33, 28, 16, and 11 in New Zealand scoring one half-century in four innings against West Indies.

On the other hand, Smith scored 31, 0, 11, and 9 while managing scores of 12, 11*, 6, and 91* against the West Indies. Labuschagne did play a 90-run knock in the second Test against New Zealand but he has struggled for runs as well.

“There are more questions coming out of the last three or four Tests than answers, and we need to find some answers pretty quickly,” said Tim Paine.

Tim Paine is concerned for Australia:

While Australia won both the home series this year before beating New Zealand, Tim Paine said they could have a hard time against England and India. Australia will host India for a five-match Test series in December – January before hosting England in 2025-26 season.

“We might not beat New Zealand, we’ve lost a Test to West Indies, we wouldn’t beat England if they were playing well with a full-strength side. India are certainly going to trouble us with Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Ravindra Jadeja, so there are some concerns,” said Tim Paine.