What happened to Tim Paine: Will Tim Paine recover on time to captain Australia in Ashes 2021-22?

What happened to Tim Paine: The Australian Test captain is all set to undergo a neck surgery in Hobart on Tuesday.

Australia Test captain Tim Paine is all set to undergo a neck surgery which has put in participation for Tasmania in the opening rounds of Sheffield Shield 2021-22 in doubt.

Last seen in action in the previous season of Sheffield Shield in April this year, Paine will be operated upon in Hobart tomorrow to ensure that a pinched nerve in his neck doesn’t bother him during the international summer scheduled to commence in the last week of November.

Having last played international cricket during the historic Brisbane Test against India in January this year, Paine’s next international assignment will be leading Australia in their first-ever Test against Afghanistan provided that it goes ahead as originally planned.

Will Tim Paine recover on time to captain Australia in Ashes 2021-22?

Paine, who has issued an official statement to quash speculations with respect to his injury, has expressed confidence in restarting physical activity by the “end of his month”. Paine further mentioned that he expects to resume “full training in October” and should regain full fitness before the international summer.

“The consensus of the spinal surgeon and the CA medical team was to have the surgery now which will allow plenty of time to fully prepare for the summer. I expect to be able to restart physical activity by the end of this month and be back in full training in October.

“I will be ready to go by the first Test and am very much looking forward to what will be a huge summer,” Paine said in a statement.

Tim Paine’s having surgery to relieve a pinched nerve due to bulging disc in his spine, after it didn’t respond to treatment. Expects to be in full training in Oct, says “I’ll be ready for the first Test” (unclear if means Ashes, or 1st of summer, the in-doubt Afghanistan match)

— Alison Mitchell (@AlisonMitchell) September 13, 2021

Assuming that the 36-year old Paine’s expectations regarding his recovery hold true, he should be seen leading Australia against Afghanistan for the first time at his home ground, i.e., Blundstone Arena, Hobart.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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