Aaron Finch: David Warner Is An All Time Great ODI, T20I Batsman
Dec 1, 2020 at 5:17 PM
Aaron Finch, Australian skipper in the ODI and T20I squad called opener teammate David Warner an all-time great in limited-overs cricket.
Skipper Aaron Finch acknowledged the fact that any top side without star batsman David Warner will become weaker but also admitted Australia have various options to cover the sizeable loss.
Aaron Finch: Australia Are Yet To Pick A Team For 3rd ODI But Have Options To Cover Up Loss
David Warner has been ruled out due to a groin strain and will miss the remainder of limited over series including an ODI and 3 subsequent T20Is that follow.
Aaron Finch cited wicket-keeper batsman Alex Carey, Marnus Labuschagne and another wicket-keeper batsman Matthew Wade who didn’t play in the first two matches are the possible options to try out as an opener along with the skipper himself.
“We have not picked a team yet, but we have got a few options. Whether we go Wadey in the side or Marnus comes up and opens the batting, Alex Carey has done a lot of it in the past,” cricket.com.au quoted Finch as saying.
“But the middle-order has been functioning really well over the last little while. That is the beauty of being two-nil up in the series, you can look to experiment if you want to do that or you can look to play the safe option,” he added.
Australia defeated India by 51 runs in the second ODI of the three-match series on Sunday after beating them by 66 runs in first ODI. With this emphatic win, Australia gained upper hand and an unassailable lead by 2-0 in the three-match series.
Aaron Finch: David Warner Is An All-Time Great In ODI And T20I
Aaron Finch also highlighted the importance and impact of David Warner in the playing XI besides mentioning he is an all-time great, especially in limited-overs cricket.
“He is an all-time great in one-day and T20 cricket. I do not think there are many better players to have played the game,” said Finch.
“So any team he is not a part of is going to be slightly weaker but we have got guys that can step and really contribute heavily in that role,” he added.
Meanwhile, opening batsman D’Arcy Short has replaced injured David Warner in the T20I squad as a like-for-like replacement. He last played a T20I in February 2019. D’ Arcy Short has been brought into the squad on the basis of performance in the Big Bash League where he was leading run-scorer in 2017-18 and 2018-19.
Pacer Pat Cummins will also miss the rest of the limited-overs fixtures against India in order to have some rest until the Test series commences at Adelaide Oval from December 17 onwards.