Published: Apr 25, 2016, 01:09 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 25, 2016, 01:09 PM (IST)
Destructive Australia opener Aaron Finch has recently revealed his disappointment following his axing from the Twenty20 International (T20I) captaincy of the national side and also termed it frustrating. Finch, who is currently playing for new Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Gujarat Lions (GL), is having a terrific form scoring three half-centuries in the four matches he batted. The player suffered an injury during the T20I series against India at home and was sidelined from the rest of the series. It was later announced that Finch no longer remained the captain of the side for the format. READ: IPL 2016: Aaron Finch goes past 1,000 IPL runs in game between Gujarat Lions and Rising Pune Supergiants
Talking to cricket.com.au, the batsman said, “I got a quick phone call from (national selection chairman) Rod Marsh, I think he was in New Zealand at the time. It’s not something I saw coming, to be honest. We’d had a good couple of months lead-up chatting about the side and the squad, the make-up of the team and how we were going to look to play in that time.”
“I was very disappointed and I was looking forward to leading an Australian team into a world tournament. Disappointing and frustrated but at the same time I totally understand why they did it”, he added.
He also revealed his feelings about the uncertainty of being in the playing XI. “Of course I felt like it (spot in the XI) was under threat. But similarly with the captaincy, they (the selectors) pick a team they think can win the game. I hold nothing against anyone for making that decision. It’s just part of the game; when you’ve got a lot of good players they can’t all fit into one batting line-up. When you’ve been out through injury and guys come in and do well – ‘Uzzie’ (Usman Khawaja) had an unbelievable Big Bash and deserved to play some role in the batting line-up.”
“I was absolutely expecting to play. I think I found out five minutes before (the XI was named). I was putting my boots on to go out and warm up because the day before we hadn’t seen the wicket and I found out then. They let us know early it was going to be a late team decision and unfortunately it didn’t go my way that time”, he added.
“But you move on and you just keep training and making sure you’re in a good space when your time does come. What it all boils down to is they don’t have to justify anything. They’re paid to pick a team and they picked the team they thought that could win that game,” Finch opined about the selectors.
