Australia captain admits some players may not be ‘comfortable’ touring Pakistan next year
Australian skipper Tim Paine Tuesday said there will be certain players in the camp who will not be “comfortable” touring Pakistan next year.
A day earlier, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Cricket Australia both confirmed that Australia will play three Test matches, three ODIs and one T20I in Pakistan next year.
The tour, however, will go ahead only after security clearance is issued.
Australian captain Tim Paine spoke to Australian radio station SEN and admitted that some players may not be 100% on board with touring Pakistan.
“There’ll be some guys who will be happy to take the experts’ advice and others will want to know a bit more,” Paine said. “If we’re totally honest, there might be some people who aren’t comfortable going regardless.
Paine admitted that there will be “issues that will, I’m sure, pop up.”
He said the team will discuss the subject and hopefully, get the right answers. “Hopefully, we will get the best team we can,” he said, adding that the decision to either go or not go to Pakistan rests with an individual, instead of the team.
Pain delved into his experience of touring Pakistan in 2017, when he was part of the World XI team that played in an exhibition series in Pakistan.
The Australian captain admitted he was reassured but also “unnerved” at the same time, with Pakistan’s security officials taking extraordinary measures, such as having choppers fly above the team’s bus.
“The security that we had on that tour was unlike anything that I’ve ever seen in my life,” Paine said. “We had helicopters overhead, roads shut down five kilometres around us, checkpoints like every kilometre into the ground, it was extraordinary.
“The fact you’re seeing it and thinking to yourself it may be necessary can be a bit unnerving, but at the same time to see the planning and execution of it, with literally a couple of choppers above your bus 20-30 metres above your head was comforting but also unnerving at the same time,” he added.
