'He is shattered, his life has changed' - Justin Langer breaks silence on Tim Paine's sexting scandal

The world turned upside down for former Australia skipper Tim Paine when his name came up for being involved in a sexting scandal with a female colleague back in 2017. After having gathered a lot of unwanted attention from media across the world, Paine finally stepped down from Australia’s Test captaincy role. In the same light, Australia coach Justin Langer broke his silence on the sexting scandal and extended his support for the former skipper.

Langer stated that he recently flew to Hobart where he met Paine and had a detailed chat with him. The coach labeled him one of the best people he has ever met and stated that doors are open for Paine in the future. Talking about his conversation with Paine, Langer began by adding, “I’m very sad with what’s happened.”

“He’s one of my really close friends and someone I admire enormously. Certainly, in this generation of players, he’s one of the best people I’ve met in the game of cricket. He’s been our captain for a long time, he and I have been through a journey like we have with all of this group. He’s one of the best people I’ve met in cricket, so it was nice to go down and see him,” said Langer as quoted by Fox Sports.

Tim Paine has been such an exemplary figure in Australian cricket: Justin Langer

Moving further in the conversation, Langer went on to tell all that Paine is shattered with what happened and his life has changed completely. The 51-year-old made it clear that it was a ‘no-brainer’ of him to visit the struggling player. Meanwhile, Langer also called society very judgemental, brutal, and unforgiving.

“When I saw him, he’s obviously shattered with what’s happened. He has been such an exemplary figure in Australian cricket for the last four years particularly. His life has changed, obviously. But you’d have to ask him how he’s going. It was important to see him, we talk about looking after our boys and having each other’s backs. It was a no-brainer for me to go and see him,” Langer added.