Australian opener Aaron Finch is confident that his compatriot and fellow opener David Warner is ready to step up and take on the captaincy of the Australian team.

Steve Smith is currently leading Australia in all three formats. However,Former Test skippers Ricky Ponting and Ian Chappell have both expressed their concerns about Smith’s workload as captain in all three formats and Finch says Warner is ready to stand in for the current skipper should he be needed.

“Absolutely (ready for captaincy). I think a part of that is having confidence in your own game but also having the confidence of your teammates in your own game as well, that you’re almost the number one picked player. And (Warner is) certainly that, along with Steve. They’ve been exceptional for a long time now and as captain and vice-captain they’ve done a fantastic job,” Finch told cricket.com.au on Thursday (June 2).

“I think if something did happen and (Warner) had to take over, he’d do an amazing job as well,” he added.

Warner lit up this IPL season with both his leadership abilities and his batting.Not only did Warner’s leadership and on-field tactics impress during his time in India, he also scored 848 runs in the tournament, including a match-winning 93 not out in the elimination final and 69 in the final.

Praising Warner, Finch said that the southpaw’s attacking style make him perfectly suited to captaincy in 20-over cricket.

“To lead the Sunrisers to the title I think shows how much he loved the responsibility of captaining,” he said.

“He led from the front with the bat, in the field he led from the front and I think as a captain he was someone who captained the way that he plays. He always took the aggressive option, he never backed down.

“They didn’t start off the tournament overly well but I think he stuck to his guns, stuck to what he believed was right and they got the job done,” he explained.