Some players might not be comfortable going: Captain Tim Paine on Australia's tour of Pakistan

Australia are all set to tour Pakistan for the first time in over 24 years after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday (PCB) announced the schedule of the full-fledged tour involving the two teams. Australia will tour Pakitan for a three-match Test series, as many ODIs and a one-off T20I match in March next year.

While PCB has confirmed the schedule, the tour remains subject to a security clearance by Cricket Australia. It has been reported that a delegation of Cricket Australia will visit Pakistan ahead of the commencement of the tour and will inspect the security situation before giving the final approval for the tour.

Australia's Test captain Tim Paine has made a glaring admission ahead of the historic tour of the Aussie team as he insisted some players might not be comfortable travelling to Pakistan. In the past, several players have expressed their reservations about travelling to Pakistan, which had been boycotted by several international teams after a terrorist attack on the bus of the Sri Lankan team in Lahore in 2009.

Though international cricket has resumed in Pakistan, some players and teams still have reservations about travelling to the country. Paine admitted some of the Australian players might not give their nod for the tour despite being assured of the security situation there.

“There’ll be some guys who will be happy to take the experts’ advice, and others will want to know a bit more. If we’re totally honest, there might be some people who aren’t comfortable going regardless. That’s happened before with tours going to other countries going back forever,” Paine told SEN Radio.

“Again, there are issues that will, I’m sure pop-up. We’ll discuss it; people get the right answers and feel comfortable, then we’ll get hopefully the best team we can. At the end of the day, it comes down to the individual,” he added.

Recently, New Zealand had calledoff their tour of Pakistan after receiving a security threat while the players were in Rawalpindi. The tour was called off hours ahead of the start of the first ODI between Pakistan and New Zealand in Rawalpindi as the Kiwis flew back home without playing.

England too called off their tour of Pakistan following New Zealand's decision. Recalling his experience of playing in Pakistan for the World XI team in an exhibition match in 2017, Paine said the security arrangements were 'unlike anything he had seen before'.

“The security that we had on that tour was unlike anything that I’ve ever seen in my life. We had helicopters overhead, roads shut down five kilometres around us, checkpoints like every kilometre into the ground, it was extraordinary," Paine said.

“The fact you’re seeing it and thinking to yourself it may be necessary can be a bit unnerving, but at the same time to see the planning and execution of it, with literally a couple of choppers above your bus 20-30 metres above your head was comforting but also unnerving at the same time," he added.

If the tour goes ahead successfully, It will be Australia's first tour in Pakistan in 24 years. The Aussies last travelled to the country for a cricket tour in 1998.