Dubai
Aaron Finch, the new captain of the Australian Twenty 20 team, wants to bring in his aggressive traits as a batsman in his captaincy too. The dashing opener will become the seventh man to lead an Australian T-20 team when they take on Pakistan in the one-off match at the Dubai International Stadium in Dubai Sports City on October 5.
Finch, who took over the T-20 captaincy from George Bailey after the latter stepped down, will have a fresh approach. When reminded of Pakistan’s win over Australia in the Twenty20 World Cup in Bangladesh this year, Finch brushed it aside: “Those were our first games of the World Cup and we managed to play a couple after that match. We have not played any Twenty20 since the World Cup but I think both teams have changed quite a bit since then. We have seen George [Bailey] step down and I have taken over the captaincy - so that is a start so we will go there with a fresh mind.”
Recalling the match against Pakistan, Finch, who had cracked a half-century in that match, said: “We should have won that game as Glenn Maxwell put us in a great position but we could not get over the line in the end. We are going out with a clear mind and we are here after a bit of a break and also coming from Zimbabwe where we played some indifferent cricket at times over there. I think it was a really big preparation for this tour.”
Australia will be hit by the absence of some key players who are playing in the Champions League. Maxwell, Cameron Boyce and Pat Cummins are playing in the Champions League T20 in India “We are going to miss them but the Champions League is such a big tournament, so we understand that priority is there. I am sure we have to be prepared. We have got some players, who will step in to fill the gaps.”
When asked about his approach as a captain and his experience of leading teams, Finch said: “I have done quite a bit in the past, captained Melbourne Renegades for a couple of years in the Big Bash and has captained in different formats such as four dayers and one dayers. This is a format of the game which I love and is exciting and probably suits my style of cricket as well. It is quite fast and does not give much time to think.”
Finch even candidly admitted that captaincy in Twenty20 is filled with risks and one has to accept it. “As a captain I will be quite aggressive as you have to take risks in this format of the game. Sometimes you come off and you look great and sometimes when you don’t you may look like a fool but I am prepared for it and accept it as part of the game. I have played over 110 Twenty20 games in my career in different leagues and different places around the world and that experience can really come through and it is enough experience to identify parts of the game and really try and make an impact as a captain,” he said.
