Ashes won't impact T20 World Cup plans: Aaron Finch
Aaron Finch feels the Australian players would be available for both the T20 World Cup and the Ashes, despite the two events likely to take place within a month of each other
While the T20 World Cup will be held in India in October-November, with the final scheduled to be played on November 14, the Ashes is likely to start on December 8 (yet to be confirmed). Under normal circumstances, the schedule wouldn’t be an issue. However, with the COVID-19 restrictions in place, Australian players may have to spend a couple of weeks in quarantine in Australia after returning from India.
Aaron Finch, however, played down suggestions that some Australian players could give the T20 World Cup a miss in order to prepare for the Ashes. The Australia limited-overs captain was quoted as saying by The Age:
“I would be very surprised if they did put their hand up and say they didn’t want to be a part of it [T20 World Cup]. I don’t think that will come into consideration, to be honest. I think that the way that we have played T20 cricket, the way that we have structured up the side, we are looking to play our best team. The opportunity to win world titles doesn’t come around every day of the week. I think you have got to take them when they come up.”
While Aaron Finch is no longer a part of Australia’s Test squad, the likes of David Warner, Steve Smith, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Mitchell Starc feature for the nation in all three formats.
The Aussies will next play a five-match T20I series against New Zealand, with the first game set to be played on February 22 in Christchurch.
Although Australia’s Test tour of South Africa has been postponed, their T20I squad for the New Zealand hasn’t been altered. As a result, Warner, Smith, Cummins, Hazlewood, and Starc won’t feature against the Kiwis.
When he is playing well, he is so destructive: Aaron Finch on Josh Philippe
One of the Australians to watch out for in the upcoming T20Is will be Josh Philippe, the Player of the Tournament in BBL10. The Sydney Sixers youngster hammered 508 runs at an impressive strike rate of 149.41. Aaron Finch has high hopes from Philippe and praised the wicket-keeper-batsman by saying:
“When he is playing well, he is so destructive of an opposition. He is someone who has, obviously, got all the shots but he is starting to get to that point in his career, and I think a lot of that was on the back of having a couple of months of IPL, where he spent a lot of time with AB (de Villiers) and Virat (Kohli) talking about batting with myself.”
Australia are yet to win the T20 World Cup, and Aaron Finch will be keen to set things right in India.