Published 19:39 IST, August 11th 2020
Budding cricketer Faiz Fazal picks Virat Kohli & Tim Paine as his favourite Test skippers
Budding cricketer Faiz Fazal picked Virat Kohli and Australia's red-call skipper Tim Paine as his favourite Test captains
Vidharbha star and budding cricketer Faiz Fazal has picked India's Virat Kohli and Australian Test skipper, Tim Paine, as his favourite captains in red-ball cricket. Under Virat, Team India were at the summit of the ICC Test Rankings from October 2016 to May 2020. Paine on the other hand was handed over the Test captaincy after Steve Smith and David Warner were handed a one-year ban in March 2018 for their involvement in the infamous ball-tampering scandal in South Africa. The Aussies ended up losing the home Test series against India later that year.
However, the spirited wicket-keeper batsman revived Australia's fortunes in the longest format as they leveled the five-match Ashes series in England (2-2) last year after which they won their next consecutive home Test series against Pakistan and New Zealand respectively. It bore fruits as the Aussies are currently the top-ranked Test side.
Faiz picks Kohli & Paine
“I am a fan of Tim Paine, he is very good as a Test captain. Virat is also very good in Tests,” the Vidharbha cricketer said while speaking on Sports Tiger’s show ‘Off the Field’.
Both Kohli and Paine will be locking horns Down Under later this year in a high-octane four-match Test series.
India Tour of Australia 2020
India will be touring Australia for a four-match Test series that gets underway on December 3. The first Test will be played at the Gabba in Brisbane. The second Test match at the Adelaide Oval will be a Day-Night affair while the last two matches will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and Sydney Cricket Ground respectively.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly had confirmed earlier this month that the bilateral series between these two sides will go on as planned as per the originally scheduled Future Tour Programmes (FTP).
Can India create history once again?
India had beaten Australia when they had toured Australia in the 2018-19 season 2-1 in the four-match series to win their maiden Test series on Australian soil. It remains to be seen whether the Virat Kohli-led side will succeed in retaining the iconic Border-Gavaskar Trophy by getting the better of a full-strength Australian side that features the likes of Steve Smith, David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne, etc.
(Image Courtesy: Twitter)
Updated 19:39 IST, August 11th 2020