The Australia tour of South Africa: A walk to remember

#4 Change in captaincy

Tim Paine has shown some really good glimpses of a good captain.

The fired up “Sandpaper gate” incident saw the departure of Steve Smith and David Warner with Tim Paine handling the Australian ship for rest of the series. The way the captaincy of the team was given to the player, it came more as a surprise to him rather than a dream come true. With Steve Smith and David Warner left, the Australian team was left with no experienced player to lead their ranks. And the way Tim Paine handled the post, seeing the situation that the team was going through, was commendable. He not only handled the team well but showed why he deserved to be the captain among the remaining bunch of players by putting some fight alongside Pat Cummins despite the former having a hairline in his right thumb.

Similar instances have occurred in the past. The last incident involved Allan Border. Kim Hughes - Greg Chappell’s replacement as captain - resigned from the leadership with a flood of tears in 1984. Allan Border was appointed the new skipper and, along with innovative coach Bob Simpson, set about rebuilding the Australian team - without success. Border didn’t have much to work with, especially since many of his best players were banned from Test cricket (in some cases for three years) for their participation in a 1985-86 rebel tour of apartheid-era South Africa.

Much similar is Tim Paine’s scenario seeing the way Steve Smith and David Warner departed and Darren Lehman is set to resign as the head coach of the current Australian team.