Mark Waugh believes Australia’s white-ball limited-overs captain Aaron Finch is not immune from being dropped due to poor form. The opener failed yet again after scoring a sluggish 14-ball 12 when the visitors were chasing a daunting 220 for victory in the second T20I against New Zealand on Thursday. The Kiwis went on to win the close encounter by only four runs.
Aaron Finch has not scored even a 50 in his last 26 T20 innings, averaging 15.00 with a pitiful strike-rate of 110 over that period. His most recent knocks in the game’s shortest format are 18, 8, 0, 14, 13, 0, 10, 4, 6, 1, and 12.
Mark Waugh: Aaron Finch’s Job Is To Score Runs As There’s A Lot Of Players Who Can Captain Australia
Aaron Finch will be under severe pressure to perform according to expectations in the remaining three matches of the T20I series. Former Australian batsman Mark Waugh explained that although Aaron Finch might be a good captain, the latter’s primary job is to score runs.
There is a lot of players like Matthew Wade, Mitchell Marsh, and Moises Henriques apart from Pat Cummins who can captain the side in place of Aaron Finch whose primary job is to score more runs especially as he is an opener feels Mark Waugh.
“His job is to score runs. It doesn’t matter; there’s a lot of players who can captain. There’s Matthew Wade; there’s Mitch Marsh; there’s Moises Henriques. His primary job is to score runs, particularly when you’re opening.
“That’s a key position in T20 cricket, and we’ve got a lot of good players on the periphery to open. He’ll know it. No batsman is immune from being dropped when you’re not scoring runs. Doesn’t matter if you’re captain or not,” Mark Waugh said on Fox Cricket.
Mark Waugh further added in this regard: “I’m not saying it (Finch getting dropped) will happen, but no one’s irreplaceable. There’s no way the selectors will want to drop him, but his destiny is in his own hands.”
Aaron Finch averages just 15 in his last 26 T20 innings and has a meagre strike rate of 110. The Australian has failed to score even a fifty in the said period. His captaincy hasn’t been too inspiring either, as the Aaron Finch-led Melbourne Renegades finished rock-bottom in the recently-concluded BBL.
Aaron Finch Backed By Marcus Stoinis Who Even Terms His Skipper The Best T20 Batsman Having Good Record
Experts and former cricketers might be raising question marks over Aaron Finch, but Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis backed the opening batsman to find his form. He even branded Australia’s white-ball captain as one of the best T20 batsmen in the world.
“There’s just full confidence that he’s going to perform for us; I just see it as a long-term picture because come the World Cup, we need him firing. He’s arguably the best 20-20 batter in the world over a long period of time. His record so good. He’s our captain. In our heads, we just trust him,” Stoinis said after Australia’s defeat in second T20I against New Zealand.
Aaron Finch went unsold at the IPL 2021 Auction for his poor form recently. Since the T20I World Cup is all set to take place in India later this year, the Australian selectors will want the 34-year-old to find some form soon.
He managed only 268 runs averaging 22.33 in 12 games in IPL 2020. Aaron Finch though was the leading run-scorer in the ODI series against India, managing 249 runs in 3 ODIs averaging 83. He managed only 35 runs though in the 2 T20Is that followed. Under his captaincy, Australia has won 20 and lost 19 T20Is. Aaron Finch has scored 2 tons and 12 fifties and averages 36.64 in T20Is.