MELBOURNE: Former Australian captain George Bailey believes that current skipper Tim Paine was a superstar from a very young age, and witnessed a meteoric rise in his career.
Bailey further stated that Paine, who is under pressure following his poor batting record after being appointed as the captain, is a natural leader who commands respect through his playing style.
“He was such a superstar at a young age and had such a meteoric rise – he probably didn’t understand what it was like for someone on the fringe or someone who is struggling. He just commands respect the way he goes about his business. He’s a natural leader,” Cricket.com.au quoted Bailey, as saying.
However, reflecting on the role of Australian coach Justin langer, Bailey said that the former is passionate about the team and works hard for the same.
“From what I’ve observed with the younger players in Western Australia team, he works them particularly hard but from that work ethic he instills a great a sense of belief.
You know that he genuinely cares about you and that’s the reason he’s pushing you so hard,” he said.
Bailey continued “He sees in a lot of people who don’t see it themselves the capacity to be great. I think he’ll drag a lot of players who haven’t quite reached their potential to their best seasons.
His passion and pride in the Australian cricket team is evident, you can’t help but get caught up in that.”
Paine was appointed as the ODI captain following the suspension of former skipper Steve Smith for his involvement in the ball-tampering scandal that took place during the third Test match against South Africa at New Lands in March.
He has scored a total of 36 runs with an average of 7.2 in five one-day matches he has played as the captain so far. (ANI)
