Tim Paine says few Australia players might not be comfortable travelling to Pakistan

Australia Test skipper Tim Paine feels it will be up to the individuals to decided if they want to travel to Pakistan for the team’s scheduled series or not. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) recently announced the itinerary for the Australia series starting from March 3. The tour comprises three Tests, three ODIs, and one T20I.

Pakistan-Australia series will start with Test matches, with the first game set to be played in Karachi from 3-7, followed by the second Test in Rawalpindi from March 12-16. The third and final Test match will be played from March 21-25. The three ODIs and one T20I will be played in Lahore from March 29 to April 5.

Paine admitted that few of the players won’t be too comfortable playing in 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 on SEN on Tuesday morning. “If we’re totally honest, there might be some people who aren’t comfortable going regardless.

The Australia Test skipper further opined that it will all boil down to the individual and how comfortable they are visiting Pakistan considering all the factors and combinations. “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 had played in Pakistan in 2017, with the World XI team. Paine revealed he was satisfied with the security arrangements back then. “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 kilometers around us, checkpoints like every kilometer into the ground, it was extraordinary,” he said.