Captain Tim Paine on Tuesday said that some of the Australian players might not be comfortable touring Pakistan. The Kangaroos will tour the Asian giants in March-April next year for three Tests, three ODIs and one T20I. This is set to be their first tour of Pakistan in 24 years.
Talking on SEN Radio, as reported by Sydney Morning Herald, Paine, who is prepping for the Ashes, said, “There’ll be some guys who will be happy to take the experts’ advice and others will want to know a bit more. If we’re totally honest, there might be some people who aren’t comfortable going regardless.”
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“That’s happened before with tours going to other countries going back forever. Again there are issues that will I’m sure pop up. We’ll discuss it, people get the right answers and feel comfortable, then we’ll get hopefully the best team we can. At the end of the day, it comes down to the individual,” he added.
Paine was a part of a World XI team which took part in an exhibition series in Pakistan in 2017.
Talking about the security in the event, the Aussie captain said, “The security that we had on that tour was unlike anything that I’ve ever seen in my life. We had helicopters overhead, roads shut down five kilometres around us, checkpoints like every kilometre into the ground, it was extraordinary.”
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“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 said.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had, on Monday, announced the details of Australia’s tour. The Test matches will take place in Karachi (March 3-7), Rawalpindi (March 12-16) and Lahore (March 21-25). All the limited overs games will be held in Lahore from March 29 to April 5.