Former Australia captain Tim Paine was unimpressed with the Baggy Greens' performance in the Test series against New Zealand. Even though Pat Cummins' men clinched the two-match series by a margin of 2-0, Paine threw his weight behind the constant pattern that has bugged the national team in the recent past. Paine underlined the struggles of Australian batters in Test cricket, which has become a problem of late.
"I'm disappointed. We're a better team than them (New Zealand) and it was the same against the West Indies, there seems to be a bit of a pattern. Not scoring enough runs… you can't always believe what they're telling you but the leadership and coaching and captain and selectors say, 'we have no concerns with our batters'. Well, I do now," Paine said on SEN Tassie Breakfast, as quoted by India Today.
More questions than answers
Since the time Steve Smith began opening the batting for Australia in Tests, he has failed to live up to his high standards. Barring one innings against West Indies, Smith has failed to make any impact with the bat. Apart from Smith, Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne have also struggled to score runs consistently.
Paine wants Australia to find a solution to their persisting problems or else it would be difficult for the Baggy Greens to compete against strong teams like India and England.
"There are more questions coming out of the last three or four Tests than answers, and we need to find some answers pretty quickly," Paine said on the show.
"We might not beat New Zealand, we've lost a Test to West Indies, we wouldn't beat England if they were playing well with a full-strength side… India are certainly going to trouble us with Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, so there are some concerns," he added.
India to tour Australia later in the year
Rohit Sharma's Team India is scheduled to tour Australia for a five-match Test series later in the year. India have won the last two Test series against Australia in Australia and would look to continue their winning momentum.
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