Australia legend Shane Warne has questioned Tim Paine’s captaincy credentials to lead the national men’s team.
Paine had been handed over Australia’s Test and ODI captaincies following the ball-tampering episode in South Africa which resulted in Steve Smith and David Warner being handed one-year bans by Cricket Australia.
Warne, however, doesn’t seem to be convinced with Paine’s own personal form which has seen him average just 15 with the bat in Test and ODIs since taking over the captaincy duties. Under Paine’s leadership, the Aussies were handed a 5-0 whitewash by arch-rivals England in an ODI series.
“The Australian way is always to pick your best team,” the leg-spinning great told Fox Sports News.
“There’s a lot of talk about should Tim Paine be in the side? He’s the captain at the moment.
“We as Australians should always pick our best team and then you pick your captain and vice-captain from that. I don’t think we should just make a captain and then fit a side around him.
Paine oversaw a 0-5 ODI thrashing at the hands of England.
“I think the captain and vice-captain should still be up for grabs because I want to see us pick the best side possible. If Tim Paine’s in the best side and he’s the best guy to be captain then make him captain.”
One option that Warne believes could be a good fit for the Australia captaincy is off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
“He’s a senior player, he’s an experienced player in the side, spinners generally think about the game pretty well, Nathan Lyon thinks about the game pretty well. Even the big quickies do in Starc and Hazlewood, Cummins is young but why not have a look at him either,” Warne said.
Paine’s next assignment as Australia skipper will be a two-Test series against Pakistan in the UAE which is scheduled to take place in October.