“I’m Hoping that India Get Here” Tim Paine on Border-Gavaskar Trophy

Australia’s Test team captain Tim Paine is hoping for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India. India is scheduled to tour Australia in December-January for the Test series against Australia. India’s tour of Australia is important for Cricket Australia as it will bring huge revenue for the board. 

The novel coronavirus has forced the authorities to suspend any game of sport in the world. The suspension of the games had also affected the financial conditions of the respective boards. At present, Cricket Australia is facing a rough phase financially. The cancelation of the lucrative test series against India would further deteriorate its condition. The stakeholders can face a loss of approximately USD 300 million if the series gets canceled. 

Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Australian government has sealed its borders for 6 months. Therefore, CA is in talks with the government for barring the Indian team from that ban. 

Tim Paine is aware of the crisis and supports CA on holding the test series. Paine said on ABC radio, “I think there’s a bit of safeguarding towards the potential of India not coming (on a tour in December/January) which is worth something like 250 to 300 million dollars. I’m hoping that they get here, that would solve a lot of issues,” 

He further added, “I know there have been some early talks with Cricket Australia and the government. Around the potential of what could be done, chartering planes and getting them in isolation when they get here to make sure that we can get India here,” 

Players won’t be greedy: Tim Paine

The weekend financial conditions of CA has also affected the central contracts of the cricketers. CA has delayed the announcement of the contracts and is in talks with the ACA about pay cut for players. 

Talking about the issue, Paine said that the players are ready to endure the consequences of the pandemic but CA needs to clear their stand so that we can plan accordingly. 

Tim said, “Players need to know the absolute financial positions of game and the players aren’t going to be greedy. Our livelihood, all the people associated with the ACA and the players association, their livelihood is dependent on the game of cricket being healthy.”

He added, “So at the moment if a pay cut for us is on the cards and that keeps our game thriving well into the future, then that’s something we’ll certainly have to look at.”