Australia Test skipper Tim Paine has said that he isn’t really decided on whether he would be around playing Test series in Pakistan March next year.
Paine had undergone a neck surgery in mid-September. The bulging disc was pressing on the nerve canal, causing pain on the left side of the body. However, the wicketkeeper batsman is focussion to make himself fit first for the mega Ashes series at home, starting December 8.
“I haven’t (on playing through until March), to be honest, but that’s no different to any year when I’ve been back in the team,” Paine told SEN’s Whateley on Tuesday.
“I’ve said that many times, I look one Test match at a time, one series at a time, since I came back into the team at 33, I think you’d be foolish to be looking too far past the series that’s coming up. I’m in constant contact with (coach) Justin Langer and our selectors, and we all know where we stand on that.
“I’ll play out this Ashes series, see how I feel, see how we go, see what the teammates think, and then we’ll push on. If I go to Pakistan then great, if I don’t then I’ll be happy to go back and play for Tasmania for the rest of the year. I’m certainly not swinging one way or another,” added Paine, 36, who became Test skipper following the sandpaper scandal in South Africa in 2018.
Australia are set to tour Pakistan in March next year that will be for the first time in 24 years. The five-time 50 overs champions will play 3 ODIs and 3 Tests at the Pakistan soil.
