Regarded as one of the best cricket captains, Australia's Mark Taylor feels that Tim Paine did an excellent job as a captain in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India, in which the home side lost 1-2 and said that it is tough for a wicketkeeper to be captain.
After sustaining a second successive home series loss against India, Tim Paine’s place in the team as a captain has come under immense scrutiny as many pundits have started criticizing him and feel that the 36-year-old wicket-keeper batsman should be relieved of his captaincy.
Paine came under the radar during the third Test-match as the former was criticized for his sledging antics against R Ashwin and then later was then criticized for being too defensive during Australia’s loss in their fortress in Gabba, Brisbane.
However former Australian Test skipper, Mark Taylor, believes that Test captaincy is a difficult ask for any wicket-keeper to manage and said that Tim Paine was always going to have this problem.
"One of the problems that Tim was always going to have [as captain] was being a keeper. I know my good mate Ian Healy will disagree with me until the cows come home, but it is hard to be a keeper and a captain. The last two Test matches have shown that,” Mark Taylor told the Sydney Morning Herald.
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Addressing the criticism of Tim Paine’s captaincy, Taylor admits that focus can be an issue if the match stretches on and said despite being tough Tim Paine has done a sterling job.
"When it is day five and you're trying to bowl the side out and you're out there for 500 or 600 balls ... as a keeper that takes a lot of focus. It's a lot to do, then to think of the bowling changes, think of the field settings, and make sure you catch everything that comes your way. I think Tim has done a sterling job, but it's tough, it's really tough,” he said.
Mark Taylor feels that current vice-captain, Pat Cummins, will end up with similar problems if the former is handed over the captaincy and said that a batsman is the best person to be captain.
"I maintain a batsman is the best person to be a captain. Pat Cummins will obviously come into the thinking because he's vice-captain, but the worry will be you'll end up with a similar problem the next time Australia are in day five [of a Test match].
Maybe I'm selling Pat Cummins a bit short, but it's a lot to do to be the No.1 strike bowler or the 'keeper, and be the captain on day five in Sydney and day five at the Gabba,” Mark Taylor said.
Taylor, 56, further said that Pat Cummins can handle matters off the field, his responsibilities during games will impact his leadership.
"The off-field stuff, I'm sure Pat Cummins or anyone would be pretty good at that, and you've got [coach Justin] Langer and his support staff to help. But when you're out in the middle that's when you really need to just focus on what you can do to maybe make a difference,” he concluded.
( India Today Inputs)
