Tim Paine on being removed as ODI captain: “I saw it coming before the UK tour”

Tim Paine on being removed as ODI captain: Australia’s Test captain has admitted that he was aware of him being axed from the ODI job.

Australia Test captain Tim Paine had made a comeback into the ODI side after seven years when he played four ODIs against England at home in January this year. Lesser did he know at that point in time that he would be leading Australia in their next ODI assignment.

With all that had happened in Cape Town in March, one of its hurried aftermath was the appointment of Paine as the ODI captain. With England whitewashing the Aussies 5-0, the decision was expected to be reconsidered.

Ahead of Australia’s next ODI assignment against South Africa at home, T20I captain Aaron Finch was handed the captaincy of the Test side.

Paine, who himself endorsed Finch as the ODI captain, has recently said that he was aware of the ODI captaincy being handed to someone else even after he boarded the plane to the UK.

In an interview with cricket.com.au, Paine was quoted, “I saw it coming before the UK tour, to be honest.”

Paine said that he was focusing on Test cricket but events led him to lead the team in ODIs. Citing the dearth of a captain or a vice-captain, he said, “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.”

Paine expressed no doubts in admitting that he was aware of the fact that he wasn’t someone whom Cricket Australia were looking at ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.  “But I was always aware of the fact that I wasn’t going to be the person going forward for the World Cup and they would look in another direction.

“Clearly, had I gone there and scored three hundreds, things might have been different. But I knew the plan was that this was the way they’d be going. I think it will be [a blessing in disguise]. It’s one of the things that I’m quite excited by – to just focus on one form of the game and focus on how I want this [Test] team to develop,” he added.

With him focusing on cricket’s ancestral format, he admired Australia’s one-day line-up, saying that their best cricket can ‘surprise’ people. “I think our best cricket in one-day cricket can really surprise people.

“[Finch is] in the prime of his career, he’s playing beautifully, and I think at the moment he’s playing so well, he’s growing in confidence in everything he does. He’s our best player in 50-over cricket at the moment. Having played with him and against him in state cricket, he’s clearly a really good captain, he’s very good tactically. Like myself, we’re developing our leadership and trying to get better,” 33-year old Paine further added.

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