Aaron Finch’s form ‘hell of a headache’ for Australia selectors, feels Ian Chappell

He might have led Melbourne Renegades to win their maiden Big Bash League recently and also captained Australia to their first T20I series win in India. But Aaron Finch’s personal form is something that continues to give Australian selectors sleepless nights. The right-hand opening batsman has been failing in match after match and since he is the skipper of the side which will compete in the World Cup in a few months’ time, the horrible run with the bat has doubled the Kangaroos’ worry.

Finch has scored only eight runs in three outings in the current India tour with nought on two occasions. He failed to impress during the Australia-India Test series a few months ago and eventually lost his place in the side. Former Australia captain Ian Chappell feels Finch’s form is ought to give the selectors a ‘hell of a headache’ ahead of the side’s defending campaign at the WC. Australia are already a battered a side in the absence of two stalwarts – Steve Smith and David Warner – and Finch’s terrible run makes it worse.

Things have become particularly worse for Finch since he made his Test debut against Pakistan in the UAE last October. He started with a fifty but the graph only went down after that. Against India at home, he could manage only 97 runs in three games before getting dropped for the Sri Lanka series.

His run in the ODIs was no better either as he managed only 26 runs in three games against India. And now, the poor run continues on this tour as well. The first ODI against India in Hyderabad was Finch’s 100th in the format but he survived just three balls while batting in the game, failing to make the occasion special.

Australia have another nine ODIs to play before they kick off their WC campaign on June 1 against Afghanistan in Bristol and the captain’s devastating form would be a tough challenge to handle for the selectors, feels the 75-year-old Chappell. “It’s a hell of a headache for the selectors. But you have to think about what is worse, dropping him now or dropping him in the middle of the World Cup?” Chappell told Wide World of Sports.

Playing Test cricket probably put Finch in trouble, feels Chappell

The forthright Australian legend said the worst thing that has happened to Finch is probably him playing Test cricket. “Certainly, India worked him out in the Test matches, and that flowed on into the one-day series. He’s playing like a man without much confidence.

You get the feeling confidence was such a huge part of his one-day batting, and I’m not sure if one score against Pakistan in the UAE is going to restore that, especially if he continues to struggle through the rest of the Indian series.” Chappell also felt that in-form bowler Pat Cummins is a strong candidate to lead Australia but added that it is not an ideal situation.

Australia will play Pakistan in a five-ODI series in the UAE after their tour of India.

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