While the upcoming World Cup is just more than three months away to begin, Australian limited-overs captain Aaron Finch claimed that the opening slot for the World Cup is still open.
England and Wales will host the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup from 30 May to 14 July. The five-time World Cup-winning side Australia will begin the tournament as the defending champions.
However, in recent times, Australia hasn’t performed well in international cricket. Notably, the Australian cricket quality has massively fallen since the suspensions of David Warner and Steven Smith. Now, they will be available soon for international cricket as their suspension period will be over at the end of the upcoming month of March.
Australia is currently busy to play the limited-overs series against the host India. They will play a two-match T20I and five-match ODI series from 24 February to 13 March. While David Warner is still unavailable for this tour, Alex Carey, D’Arcy Short and Usman Khawaja are the top contenders for the opening batsman role.
While the T20I series will begin on this Sunday (24 February), Aaron Finch spoke about the opening spot. He claims that it is an excellent opportunity for the players to cement their World Cup spot as an opener.
The Australian limited-overs captain said, “Whatever we feel is the right combination at the time. I don’t think anything is out of question. There’s things you can juggle around in one-day cricket. I’ve batted in the middle order a little bit over the last little while, Davey has done it. It’s a huge opportunity for guys to step up and almost cement their place, for the next little while.”
Aaron Finch also points out the elbow injuries of David Warner and Steven Smith
Currently, David Warner and Steven Smith both are recovering from elbow injuries. Aaron Finch pointed out that fact and claimed that it would open the opportunity for the other cricketers to feature in the upcoming World Cup.
He added, “That should be in the back of your mind as well (elbow injuries), that if things don’t go 100 per cent right with their rehab or they have some complications with it and they’re not back in time (for the World Cup).”
Aaron Finch is glad for Matthew Hayden’s presence in India
Aaron Finch is also feeling great for Matthew Hayden’s presence in their camp for the ongoing India tour. The former Australian opener Matthew Hayden is currently in India for the commentary duty.
Aaron Finch said, “It was great to have JL’s (Justin Langer’s) great mate and a legend of the game, and somebody who has had so much success in India, come back and get around to a few of the boys.”
After this India tour, Australia will play five ODIs against Pakistan in UAE. Then Australia will be ready for their World Cup journey. They will start their World Cup journey against Afghanistan on 1 June at Bristol.