Australia’s Test captain, Tim Paine, has admitted that some players might have concerns to travel to Pakistan for their scheduled tour of the country in March and April of 2022. Paine’s statement came just a day after the Australian Cricket Board confirmed their tour of the country.
Paine said that there will be some players who will be concerned to tour the country due to the security in the region. He said while some players will be content with the advice of the security experts there will be others who will not be comfortable with touring the country. Paine said that he is confident that Australia will send the best possible squad for the tour but cannot force any individual who is not willing to travel to the country.
“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,” Paine stated.
The wicket-keeper batter was part of the World XI squad that toured Pakistan in 2017. He said that the security measures taken by the Pakistani authorities were top-notch but still, there was an unnerving feeling for the duration of the exhibition series. He said that the security was unlike anything he had ever seen and while it was comforting it was unnerving at the same time as well.
Australia confirmed their tour of Pakistan for a three-match Test series, three-match ODI series, and a one-off T20I on Tuesday. This will be Australia’s first tour of the country in 23 years as they last toured Pakistan in 1998. The series is scheduled to begin in March 2022.
