Aaron Finch’s form is cause of concern for selectors but his leadership continues to earn praise, with Nathan Coulter-Nile echoing Justin Langer’s sentiments.
The pressure is building on Aaron Finch with every failure but the skipper has successfully ensured the personal woes don’t affect his approach to captaincy.
Finch’s poor run continued during Australia’s first ODI against India in Hyderabad, where he was out for a third-ball duck as the tourists suffered a six-wicket loss.
The opener has now failed to reach 50 in 20 consecutive white-ball innings for Australia.
The issue has become a major talking point given that leaving Finch out of Australia’s 15-man World Cup squad would mean that selectors must also find a new captain.
Finch has a further four games in the current series to find form before Australia travel to the UAE for a five-match series against Pakistan.
Coach Justin Langer recently vowed to be patient during Finch’s slump, which dates back to last July, and made a point to praise his level-headed leadership.
Finch watched the vast majority of Australia’s innings from the changing room on Saturday – a scenario that no doubt infuriated him – but successfully sequestered any anxiety and anger.
“I’ve been really impressed with Finchy. He hasn’t been grumpy or angry or let anything overflow into his captaincy,” paceman Nathan Coulter-Nile said.
“He’s been really good. Obviously he’s not scoring the runs he wants to but he’s been an absolute legend around the boys. I’ve only got good things to say about that.
“The boys are too good to keep going through dry spells, like Finchy and the like. They’ll definitely come out of it.”
Finch, speaking on the eve of Saturday’s ODI, felt confident runs were around the corner and flagged the need to avoid becoming “up and down” around teammates.
“Then the team starts to sense that and starts to almost play like that – you start to play on emotion so much,” Finch said.
“Remaining level is key. I feel as though I’ve done that really well.
“I feel as though my captaincy on the ground has been really good as well. Just a few runs and it will be all good.”
FINCH’S FORM SINCE BELTING 172 IN A T20 AGAINST ZIMBABWE ON JULY 3, 2018
T20: 141 runs at 10.84 from 13 matches (highest score of 47)
ODI: 83 runs at 11.85 from seven matches (highest score of 41)
Test: 278 runs at 27.8 from five matches (highest score of 62).
© AAP
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