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Australia's selectors and new coach Andrew McDonald are adamant T20I skipper Aaron Finch is under no pressure for his place in the T20 World Cup title defence later this year, but he is eager to quieten the public debate about his form.
Australia›s white-ball team heads back on the road on Wednesday for three T20Is and five ODIs in Sri Lanka beginning on June 7. The T20I side will be nearly at full strength with only Pat Cummins and Adam Zampa missing from the team that won the World Cup last year. Cummins is resting from the T20I series after playing in the IPL while Zampa is on paternity leave.
Finch made 55 off 45 balls in Australia›s last T20I against Pakistan in Lahore and was named Player of the Match. It was his first T20I half-century in 14 innings, having registered six single-figure scorers in his previous eight games which included a five-match home series against Sri Lanka in February where he twice batted at No. 3. He also made scores of 23, 0, and 0 in his three ODI innings in Pakistan prior to the half-century in Lahore.
Australia›s upcoming schedule was released on Monday with Finch likely to get 11 T20Is and 11 ODIs prior to the T20 World Cup and he has a simple outlook.
Finch has been tinkering with his set-up and his movement patterns for some time, trying to regain the rhythm and flow that once made him one of the best limited overs in the world. He noted at the back end of the Pakistan series that he was getting too open in his stance, but admitted he was “trying to go a little too hard” in the IPL by moving around the crease a lot and hoped to settle into a better base for the Sri Lanka series.
Australia aren›t planning on tinkering too much with their winning T20I set-up in Sri Lanka. However, the absence of Zampa and Cummins, as well as spin-friendly conditions, may give them the opportunity to play two spinners rather than three quicks in a four-man attack as they stick fast with the seven-batter philosophy that won the World Cup.
“Not knowing what we›re going to get conditions-wise for the T20s, I think Colombo and Kandy are so different, I think we›ve got to be flexible and adaptable and making sure that when we get to the World Cup that we›ve got plenty of options that we can go with,” Finch said. “Whether we jig our side to have two spinners or go with the three quicks and use the allrounders a bit more, we›ll have to be flexible, and I think that creates some great options for us.”
T20 SQUAD: Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner, Matthew Wade
ODI SQUAD: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner
WHITE BALL FIXTURES
7 June: First T20I @ RPS Colombo
8 June: Second T20I @ RPS, Colombo
11 June: Third T20I @ Pallekele, Kandy
14 June: First ODI @ Pallekele, Kandy
16 June: Second ODI @ Pallekele, Kandy
19 June: Third ODI, @ RPS, Colombo
21 June: Fourth ODI, @ RPS, Colombo
24 June: Fifth ODI, @ RPS, Colombo
