India-Australia ODI rivalry at par with Tests: Finch

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Sarthak Karkhanis
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India-Australia ODI rivalry at par with Tests: Finch

Last Updated on 5 years by Charbel Coorey

Australian ODI captain Aaron Finch says that India-Australia ODI rivalry is no less than the one in Tests. The skipper also talked about the planning for international cricket in the post-COVID-19 world and players being “ultra-flexible” post the break, among many other things.

“It’s hard to compare,” said Finch. “One is the traditional game and the grind of the five days wherever it is, India or in Australia, that mental battle day-to-day. I think the one-day game is a little bit more skill-based just on the day obviously. If a couple of players in your team have a day out, that goes a long way in winning the game. The rivalry is definitely there 100 per cent. It’s not a case of that being any less important or taken any less lightly because it’s a one-dayer or T20I or a Test match.”

India-Australia ODI rivalry at par with Tests: Finch
India-Australia ODI rivalry at par with Tests: Finch

As the series between Australia and Zimbabwe got postponed, Finch hinted that Australia’s ODI series against England may well be their first series post the coronavirus break. Ashley Giles, managing director of the England men’s team, is “quietly confident” the series will go ahead in September.

“In our minds we were planning for Zimbabwe, we’re planning for England. All going well that England tour I think – I think that was our next game wasn’t it? That’s what we’re planning for. As a player I know in my mind I’m preparing to go to England to play; whether that happens we’ll wait and see,” he said.

“We just have to be really conscious of being ultra-flexible – and there might be a tour that comes up on relatively short notice. Because we could get that and that’d be brilliant, whatever it takes, I know all the players are in the same boat. I know all of Cricket Australia, the ACA – whatever we have to do to get a game up and going, is in the best interests of world cricket, we’ll be looking to do that,” the 33-year-old said talking about how cricketers should behave in the coming months.

“It just comes down to doing whatever’s needed for world cricket to be back up and running and for all countries to be thriving and having the best opportunity to be successful. I think if you start looking at it as ‘we need to play against a certain opposition’ or something like that for your own betterment, that’s when a lot of things can fall down,” he said.

Australia’s domestic season isn’t affected due to the coronavirus pandemic, but Australia’s series in Bangladesh was also postponed.

“In the really short term, we just having to be focused on making sure that world cricket is back up and running and as many countries as possible are in a great state to be competing. I don’t think that right the be-all and end-all is where you finish in rankings for a World Cup or anything like that, I just think the health of world cricket is important, and whatever that looks like. And there’ll be some teams that probably have a tougher challenge to get where they need to be, but I think say over the next 10 years, that will all even itself out,” he added.

Written by Sarthak Karkhanis. Follow Sarthak on Twitter today.

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