Australia’s current Test captain Tim Paine thinks there will be competition with Steve Smith to be the next captain of the team. Smith already has the experience of leading who captained the side before Paine but faced a two-year leadership ban for his involvement in the ball-tampering scandal during a Test in Cape Town in 2018. However, the ban expired this week, raising the new speculation that Smith could soon resume his leadership duties.

On the other hand, 35-year-old Paine said he is in great touch and not yet ready to walk away from the game. He even refused to give a timeline for his departure, particularly with the uncertainty created by the COVID-19 across the globe, saying only that coach Justin Langer and selectors knew of his future plans.

Read here: The Future of IPL 2020 at Stake?

“I know what I’m thinking, in terms of how far I can play on and we’re on the same page,” he told reporters via video conference.

However, Tim Paine further said that he had not spoken with Steve Smith about the captaincy but the 30-year-old batsman would not be the only candidate for the role that for sure.

“We’ve got a number of guys to choose from who can put their hand up,” he said. “There’s Steve Smith, who’s done it before, or the people who are developing underneath like a Travis Head or an Alex Carey — Marnus Labuschagne and Pat Cummins are other ones. We’re starting to build some real depth so that when my time’s up we’ve got a number of options.”

The global pandemic has affected several people. The upcoming edition of Indian Premier League 2020 is likely to be cancelled due to the situation surrounding COVID-19, the novel coronavirus pandemic in India, as per the report in The Indian Express. The mega auction, which was scheduled to take place before IPL 2021, will also be postponed by a year. Moreover, the franchises can retain the same squads they have for this year’s league and they will be given an option to pick or drop players as well.