HYDERABAD: Australian skipper
Aaron Finch ruled out
Steve Smith and
David Warner playing the ODI series against Pakistan. Former captain Smith, who underwent a surgery and returned to training on Friday, and Warner will be available for Australia after their ban ends later this month, when Australia will be playing Pakistan in the UAE.
"No, I don't think they'll play that game," Finch said here on Friday as Australia got ready to take on India in the first ODI. "I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think that they'll play those last one or two games."
The Aussies have the momentum after the T20I series win, but the skipper saw room for improvement. "We played good cricket throughout those two games. Now we turn our attention to the one-day games. It's a great opportunity to keep improving on some things we've done in the last couple of series we've played. It's been a long time since we won a one-day series here, so we're very keen to keep improving and win."
One of the reasons for Australia winning the T20s was
Glenn Maxwell. Will he be promoted in the batting order? "Glenn will get an opportunity to bat higher than he did in the series against India in Australia, when he batted No.7. He's been in some great form. I'm not sure where he'll bat, but it'll be higher than No.7."
With D'Arcy Short, who was a cover for Shaun Marsh going home, the Aussies are yet to decide on the opening combination. "That's something we'll think about when we look at the wicket. Stoinis has been so destructive in the middle order and the back end of the innings. Shaun's not available for selection tomorrow. Whether it's Uzzie (Khawaja) or Stoinis at the top with myself, we'll wait and see," he said.
Workload management, Finch said, is necessary, especially for the quicks. Will they rest
Pat Cummins? "He bowled a lot throughout the Australian summer, the Indian series and the Sri Lankan series. That'll be something that will have to be managed over these 10 ODIs that are in pretty quick succession. And having April with no cricket scheduled, there is going to be really important for guys like Pat to freshen up and for guys like Mitchell Starc to get some good workload in. It's going to be a balancing act with all the fast bowlers because playing 10 ODIs in a month or less is uncharted territory."
Why are India so tough to beat at home? "Their batting is strong. They've got Virat, who is arguably the best player of all time in ODI cricket. Rohit has been in good form. Shikar is very good too. Then they got experience in Dhoni. Their wrist spin plays a big part, they have quicks that move the ball up front and who also bowl well at the death. They have a really well balanced side and a side that plays in their conditions really well. They play well everywhere to be fair. All those things go a long way as to why they are so successful in India in particular."
The Aussie captain reckoned that Ashton Turner is the one to look out for. The 26-year-old middle order bat also bowls off-spin. "Ashton Turner is going to get his chance to make his debut in ODI cricket. He is such a talented player, he can manage situations well. He is going to be a real important player for us and someone I'm very excited to see."
Start a Conversation
Post comment