Australian selector George Bailey has put his weight behind under-fire captain Aaron Finch and has confirmed that he will lead Australia in the upcoming T20 World Cup in India. Finch has been under the scanner for his ordinary performances in the recent past. The Australian skipper has scored only 13 runs in the first two T20Is against New Zealand.
Finch had also gone unsold in the recently held IPL auction in Chennai. Finch had last played for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the previous season but couldn’t get going as he scored 268 runs in 12 matches at a paltry average of 22.3.
Consequently, he was released by RCB before the auction as he couldn’t deliver the goods. Finch couldn’t get going in the recently concluded Big Bash League as he amassed 179 runs in 13 innings at a paltry average of 13.77 while playing for Melbourne Renegades.
However, despite Finch’s poor form, Bailey has backed him to deliver the goods for Australia. Bailey added that Finch has a great average in the shortest format of the game and his criticism is only white noise for him.
“He’s got a terrific average, he’s the captain of this side and he’ll be the captain of this side at the World Cup. It (Aaron Finch’s criticism) is just complete white noise for me,” said Bailey while interacting with Morning Herald Sun.
“He was pretty zonked. But he tried to do the right thing and get back to help a young (Melbourne) Renegades side. His reflection on that was that he probably should’ve sat longer out and come back a bit fresher,” Bailey observed.
Finch has thus far played 66 T20I matches in which he has amassed 2149 runs at an impressive average of 36.64 and a blistering strike rate of 153.22. Thus, Finch will look to be at his best and he will also aim to lead with aplomb.
There is no doubt that Finch has done a fine job both as a batsman as well as a leader of the team. Finch has been a consistent performer for Australia in the white-ball formats and he will look to get back in form. Australia will face New Zealand in the must-win third T20I at Westpac Stadium, Wellington on March 3 and the last three T20Is will be played behind closed doors.
