Aaron Finch
Aaron Finch. Image Credits: Twitter

Indian team clinched victory against the Aussies in the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2023 by 2-1. Team India qualified for the World Test Championship (WTC) Final after New Zealand won the first test match against Sri Lanka, Rohit Sharma-led side won the first two matches at Nagpur and Delhi, while the visitors tasted victory at Indore Test.

Former Aussies white-ball format skipper, Aaron Finch thinks, the Baggy Greens had the chance to level up the series during the Delhi game in BGT 2023–and they should have won the four-Test match series by 2-1 against Asian giants.

Team India
Team India. Image Credits: Twitter

Finch thinks the Indian pace attack will play a key role in WTC Final-

“One of the top bowlers in the world,” stated former Australian opener on Indian pace attack.

Indian pace attack with the likes of Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, and Mohammed Siraj with Ishant Sharma in some early phases has been the important pillars for Men in Blue success in overseas Test games, Indian speedster made it possible for Asian Giants to win the back-to-back BGT titles down under.

“I am not sure what Hardik’s Test match plans but when you look at Shami, Umesh, Suraj and these guys, they are really very very good fast bowlers. Siraj is among the top bowlers in the world at the moment. He can all swing the ball,” he remarked.

“They beat England in England last time. So India have a huge chance in the final. They have a lot of bases covered whether they play one or two spinners,” he further added.

Indian star all-rounder, Hardik Pandya last played the Test match for Men in Blue in September 2018, since then continuous back injuries kept him away from playing longer formats of games. Hardik had a long injury layoff after the T20 World Cup in 2022 and returned to competitive action in 2022 to win the title for Gujarat Titans in their very first season of the Indian T20 League (IPL).

Since his comeback, the hard-hitting batter has taken limited overs cricket to another level. He has been made Rohit Sharma’s deputy while he has led the Indian side in many matches in the absence of Rohit.

“They are not going to play three spinners, that’s for sure (laughs),” answered the 36-year-old on the Australian XI for the first ODI.

The former Aussie opener, who announced his retirement in February 2023, is currently playing the Legends League Cricket (LLC) 2023 in Doha, Qatar. He is leading the World Giants in the three-team tournament.

“They should have won 2-1. It is just that one hour of madness in Delhi,”

“He hasn’t got as many runs as he would have liked but that is just the nature of the game and it is the conversation at the moment. He is a great player and he is Australia’s best-ever three-format batsman,”

The Baggy Greens lost the second Test match at Delhi by six wickets, in that game, the Australian side lost nine wickets in the morning season on 3rd day of the Delhi test match, eventually getting bowled out for 113 runs in the second innings.

“I think…he will fire again. I mean he got a 200 in Boxing Day which shows that he still has the drive and desire to be there. And the Ashes will be a big challenge no doubt. Stuart Broad again…that will be a great challenge for him. I know that he is fighting hard,” said Finch on his former opening partner David Warner.

Australian ace batter, Warner was ruled out after the second Test at Delhi as he got hit on the elbow while batting, he later was ruled out for the rest of the series, Travis Head replaced Warner in the BGT 2023 at Indore Test.

Team India will now take on Australia on two occasions in the coming days, firstly in the three matches ODI series, starting on March 17, and in the World Test Championship (WTC) Final on June 7 at England. While Men in Blue lost the inaugural edition of the WTC Final in 2021 against New Zealand.

Also read: Aaron Finch Announces Retirement From T20Is