"I called Justin Langer a few months ago and said David Warner will be the Man of the Tournament" - Aaron Finch after T20 World Cup 2021 final
Aaron Finch has revealed that unlike many in the cricket fraternity, he had predicted David Warner to be the Player of the Tournament months before the T20 World Cup 2021. The Australian skipper said on Sunday that he had assured head coach Justin Langer of the same, lauding Warner as an "all-time great".
David Warner came into the tournament on the back of a rocky IPL season which saw him get sacked from the captaincy and dropped twice.
With more support from the Aussie management here, the southpaw brought back his best form to collect 236 runs from six games - the second-best in the competition. The contribution played a crucial role in Australia winning their first men's T20 World Cup title with an eight-wicket win over New Zealand on Sunday.
Speaking in the post-match press conference, Aaron Finch said that while he wanted leg-spinner Adam Zampa to get the reward, he was nowhere near surprised seeing David Warner win it.
Aaron Finch said:
"You didn't expect that? I certainly did. Without a word of a lie, I promise you, I called Justin Langer a few months ago and I said, 'Don't worry about Davey. He'll be the Man of the Tournament.' I thought Adam Zampa should have been Man of the Tournament, personally, but he's a great player. He's one of the all-time great batters and he's a fighter. He's someone when his back is against the wall, that's when you get the very, very best of David Warner. It was a special finish of the tournament for him, the last couple of knocks."
Australia's arguably only weakness in this near-flawless tournament triumph was the batters' issues against leg-spin. Further into the conference, Aaron Finch spoke about how his team acknowledged the issue and went about offsetting it throughout the tournament.
Aaron Finch asserted:
"We knew that the middle overs against spin, particularly leg-spin, we understand that it hasn't been our strength... So we were really committed to remaining positive and aggressive against spin and that showed in the way Mitch and Davey played against New Zealand. Shadab got a four-fer in the semifinal but we kept attacking him. And we were so committed to it throughout the tournament that we were comfortable with failing being aggressive because we know that's when we play at our best."
Out of form!! 😳🤣 twitter.com/cricketcomau/s…
This approach paid dividends in the final as well. Ish Sodhi, who was one of the best leg-spinners in the tournament, went for 40 runs in his four wicketless overs against Aaron Finch's team. David Warner's 53 off 38 and Mitchell Marsh's 77 off 50 helped the team chase down the Black Caps' 173-run target in 18.5 overs.
"There's going to be issues but that's a part of being in the team" - Aaron Finch on Australia's bonding
Aaron Finch also weighed in on the role Australian players' strong friendships and camaraderie played in this achievement. He said the dressing room had its share of issues but the team only emerged closer and stronger from them.
Aaron Finch concluded by saying:
"It's unbelievable. It's been brilliant. It has ups and downs along the way, don't get me wrong. It's never smooth sailing when you are in bio bubbles and things like that, it's always difficult. The guys get along really well, we have played some golf together, we have hung out, we have been able to relax and just enjoy each others' company. But when you're in each other's company for 24 hours, of course, there's going to be issues but that's part of being in the team. As you can hear in there now, there's always music playing in the corridors of the hotels, everyone's doors are always open, it's been brilliant."
An effort like this will only add to this bonding which might see the Australians come out as an even better team in the T20 World Cup in their den next year.