Tim Paine : Virat Kohli's wicket will be huge for Australia in the whole series

10/07/2017

Tim Paine considers Virat Kohli the most important player in the Indian line up and feels that for Australia, the Indian skipper's wicket will be the most important one for the entire series. The pacer added that even though India are high on confidence and the Aussies have a plan in store for them

India were a dominant force in the recently concluded ODI series where they thrashed the team from down under to secure a comfortable 4-1 victory. However, with the T20 series on the horizon, Australia are to turn their fortunes around and have claimed that they have started planning on how to do that. Tim Paine has stated that captain Virat Kohli, who averages an incredible 66.83 against Australia in T20Is, is going to be the most important and most difficult player in the opposition and his Australia have some plans to counter him as his wicket will be beneficial in the whole series.

"Obviously, he is a really good player. Not many teams had much success against him. He will be a huge wicket tomorrow night and in the whole series," Paine told PTI.

"We had a brief chat about him in the team meeting last night. I don't want to get into the details. We certainly have got a couple of plans, we will see how it goes.

"India are playing some really good cricket. They are high on confidence. We are going to come out firing tomorrow night."

India will go into the series high on confidence while the visitors can take solace in the fact that Aaron Finch and David Warner, who play in the IPL as well, have been putting up the runs at the start of the innings.

On a personal note, Paine was offered a contract by the Tasmania state side just as he was about to call time on his cricketing career. He then went on to make a comeback to the Australian T20 team, in 2017, after a gap of almost six years.

"It's a turnaround. I was looking to probably retire and accept a job with Kookaburra company. Then I had the opportunity to stay with Tasmania for another couple of years. Then I got picked to play in the T20Is in Sri Lanka and another opportunity here. It's turned around pretty quickly and I am grateful for that," Paine said.

"It would not be easy to do that. I have been lucky to have played some Tests for Australia. For me, to sit back and be bitter about what happened would be pretty silly, even before getting back into the T20Is."

Despite not having a great international career, Paine seems to be content with what he has achieved so far.

"I am really proud of what I have achieved in cricket. I don't look at what might have been. I am happy with what's happened so far and hopeful that it will continue for another few years."

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