Birthday special: Tim Paine – Fringe wicketkeeper turned Australia’s captain in crisis
Timothy David Paine is the current skipper of the Australian national side in the longest format of the game. A right-handed wicket-keeping batsman, born on 8th December 1984, plies his trade for Tasmanian Tigers in the domestic circuit and led the Hobart Hurricanes side before making big for his national side. His major roles with the team began when Australia got defamed in South Africa due to their ball-tampering saga.
When Steve Smith admitted his involvement in the ball-tampering scandal during the third Test against South Africa in 2018, he and David Warner had to step down from their positions. Skipper Smith and vice-captain Warner were sent back to Australia midway, and Tim Paine was announced as the interim captain for the final two days. He was named the 46th skipper of the Test side of Kangaroos by Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland and the rest is history.
?? 31 Tests, 35 ODIs, 12 T20Is
? 2302 runs ✶ 208 dismissals ?In 19 Tests under him, Australia have won 10, lost just six, and have risen to No.1 in the Test rankings!
Happy birthday, Tim Paine ? pic.twitter.com/JQsvHodfCa
— ICC (@ICC) December 8, 2020
Pre-captaincy career
He marked his ODI debut against England in 2009 and his Test debut against Pakistan in 2010. Paine sustained a finger injury in 2010 and also remained out of the Test squad for around seven years. He marked his resumption in the purest format of the game in 2017-18 Ashes. During the same series, he scored 192 runs in six innings at an average of 48. It was in April 2018, Paine was offered the national contract by Cricket Australia for the 2018-19 season.
Leading Australia
In May 2018, he was made the ODI skipper of the Kangaroos for the series against England. However, following a 5-0 whitewash, the charge was taken over by Aaron Finch in the ODI format. In January and February 2019, Paine led the Australian side in the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka. Australia won the series 2-0, and it turned out to be his first victory as captain.
In 2019, he led the Australian side for the 2018-19 Ashes series in England. Kangaroos retained the Ashes series after clinching the fourth Test. Paine became the first skipper after Steve Waugh in 2001 to retain the prestigious Ashes in England. He then led his side for the Test series against New Zealand and Pakistan, where Australia won all five Tests. He has tried his best to be the man who led Australia in tough times in absence of big names like David Warner and Steve Smith and made the team the number 1 Test side in the world. Meanwhile, he is set to lead Australia in the four-match Test series against India and will be hoping to lead the team to victory.
