‘I saw it coming’ – Tim Paine on white-ball axing

Paine captained Australia in England in what was their first international series since the ball-tampering incident in Cape Town in March. It was one to forget for the men from Down Under as they were trumped 5-0 by the No.1 team in the MRF Tyres ICC Men's ODI Team Rankings.

When Finch was named captain of the ODI side for the series against South Africa last week, what Paine had always known was confirmed.

“I saw it coming before the UK tour, to be honest," Paine told cricket.com.au. “The plan … was to focus just on Test cricket. Then obviously what happened, happened (ball-tampering bans to Steve Smith and David Warner, as well as Cameron Bancroft) and all of a sudden, we didn't have a captain or vice-captain. It was about having some stability in the team when Justin (Langer, the coach) first took over.

“But I was always aware of the fact that I wasn't going to be the person going forward for the World Cup and they would look in another direction.”

Paine, however, admitted that had he performed well in England, he might have extended his limited-overs career for Australia. However, he managed just 36 runs in five ODIs.

"Clearly, had I gone there and scored three hundreds, things might have been different. But I knew the plan was that this was the way they'd be going,” he said.

"I think it will be (a blessing in disguise). It's one of the things that I'm quite excited by – to just focus on one form of the game and focus on how I want this (Test) team to develop.”

That said, he believes Finch is the right person to lead Australia’s defence of the ICC Cricket World Cup title in 2019. He even went on to suggest Australia could be a real force in the tournament, despite currently being No.6 in the ODI Rankings.

"Our best cricket in one-day cricket can really surprise people," he said. “(Finch is) in the prime of his career, he's playing beautifully, and at the moment he's playing so well, he's growing in confidence in everything he does.

"He's our best player in 50-over cricket at the moment. Having played with him and against him in state cricket, he's clearly a really good captain, he's very good tactically. Like myself, we're developing our leadership and trying to get better.”

Australia and South Africa will clash in three ODIs – the first will be played on Sunday in Perth – and a Twenty20 International thereafter.