Amid coronavirus pandemic, cricketers be it active or former, are taking part in online chat sessions and sharing their opinions on various topics. They are regularly using multiple social media platforms in order to connect with their fans and followers. Following the trend, Australia’s limited-overs captain and opener Aaron Finch participated in an interview organised by Sports Tak where he answered many queries.
During the conversation, Finch was asked to pick an all-time India-Australia ODI XI. The Victorian cricketer started the proceedings by naming Virender Sehwag and Adam Gilchrist as the openers. Unlike the current scenario, Finch preferred Sehwag over Rohit Sharma, and the right-hander explained his decision as well.
“Sehwag, he is my number one pick, because I love the way he played. He was dominating and as soon as he was on the game was over. I love watching Rohit bat and his record his unbelievable, but I’d love to see Gilchrist and Sehwag open the batting together,” said Finch.
The southpaw then picked Ricky Ponting for the number three slot and chose Virat Kohli for the following position. Finch then went with Hardik Pandya and Andrew Symonds as the two all-rounders in his all-time combined XI.
“Hardik Pandya and Andrew Symonds are similar types of players. His (Symonds) batting over a longer period was probably better. I think Hardik is on the way up,” the 33-year-old added.
Finch also picked former India skipper MS Dhoni in his team, and when the anchor asked whom would he give the keeping gloves between Gilly and Dhoni, Finch said: “Doesn’t matter either because Dhoni is the cool head under pressure. The amount of time that he gets whether its IPL or international cricket, he gets the team over the line. If the team is 10-3, he comes in, and he plays an innings and gets runs. If the team is under pressure, he finds a way to get there.”
The top-order batsman completed the lineup by picking Brett Lee, Jasprit Bumrah and Glenn McGrath as the pace battery. However, he couldn’t name a spinner. Finch was confused between Brad Hogg and Harbhajan Singh.
Here is Aaron Finch’s combined India-Australia ODI XI:
Adam Gilchrist, Virender Sehwag, Ricky Ponting, Virat Kohli, Andrew Symonds, Hardik Pandya, MS Dhoni, Brett Lee, Jasprit Bumrah, Brad Hogg/Harbhajan Singh, Glenn McGrath.
