Ian Chappell unsupportive of people pointing fingers at Tim Paine’s captaincy

Ian Chappell unsupportive of people pointing fingers at Tim Paine’s captaincy

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With 4-0 down in the series, Tim Paine is under lots of scrutiny and fingers have been pointed at his leadership, but Ian Chappell reckons that he needs some time to establish it. Paine was appointed as the captain of the team after Steve Smith was banned in the ball-tampering scandal.

Australia were hammered for a record score of 481 in the third ODI against England. With their historic performance, England secured a 3-0 lead in the 5-match series and then, recorded an easy win in the fourth ODI as well to destroy Australia’s confidence. Ian Chappell, in his column for Hindustan Times, insisted that Tim Paine couldn’t be blamed solely for the poor performance. 

“No sooner had England established a world record score and an unassailable lead in the five-match series, than the muttering started about Tim Paine’s appointment as Australia’s ODI captain. However, Paine couldn’t be blamed for the opposition’s record score,” Ian Chappell wrote. 

After the ball-tampering fiasco, Paine got the opportunity to establish his leadership. However, Chappell reckoned following the departure of Steve Smith, Paine hasn’t been able to instill his authority and pointed out that Paine has been reinstating Justin Langer’s philosophy and has not brought his own style of leadership to the table.  

“What Paine didn’t do when he was officially appointed captain of the Test and ODI sides was establish who was in charge. Following the appointment of a new coach, Paine talked about the team putting into practice Justin Langer’s philosophies. Paine should’ve established how he wanted the team to behave and how he wanted them to play. Paine may have felt he was only keeping the seat warm for the return of banned skipper Steve Smith but to not immediately establish his leadership credentials was a mistake,” he wrote.  

During Australia’s tour of India in 2017, Virat Kohli had to sit out in the Dharamshala Test due to a shoulder injury. Ajinkya Rahane was named as the captain of the team in Kohli’s absence. Rahane took over the role without any problem and also, won the Test match for India quite convincingly. Giving the example of Rahane, Chappell suggested that Paine should lead by his own style. 

“Contrast Paine’s position with that of Ajinkya Rahane who took over from injured captain Virat Kohli during a Test series against Australia. In his own positive way, he made it obvious he was leading in his own style and was not a carbon-copy of Kohli” he wrote.

Pointing out selecting the captain of the team as the toughest job of selectors, he wrote, “One of the hardest things for a selection panel is the choice of a new captain. It’s harder for selectors to predict captaincy potential than it is for the player to evolve into a good skipper if he has natural leadership qualities.”

Paine has been a regular feature as the captain of his state team and Australia A team. Soon after his return to the international circuit, the ball tampering incident happened, which led to ban for Steve Smith and David Warner. Hence, with no other potential option, Paine became the captain of the team. Chappell showed concerns regarding the performance of Paine and stated it would be difficult for selectors to find his replacement.   

“With both Smith and David Warner out of the running, Paine was the obvious choice as Australian captain, having previously performed the task at lower levels. Australia’s problem could be dire if Paine couldn’t hold his place in the ODI side and they would have to unearth another captain. At least any successor would have the comfort of knowing Australia’s results can’t get any worse,” he added. 

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