Birthday special: Aaron Finch – Australia’s skipper in crisis

Aaron Finch was born on November 17, 1984 in Colac, which is a small city in Victoria. Growing up, he was a middle-order batsman and gradually made his move upwards. His talent was quite visible as his domestic team pushed him up the order. It took him some time to turn around his fortune and make his international debut for Australia.

Finch made his debut in 2013 and in the very first year, he smashed the record for the highest ever T20I score then, when he made 156 not out from just 63 balls against England in Southampton. The knock announced him at the world stage as he developed his reputation as a brilliant hitter of the ball and a fine white-ball batter. However, consistency was an issue for him like many other young players.

Quite interestingly, Finch’s record of the highest T20I score was broken by himself. In 2018, he smashed 172 against Zimbabwe. But, Finch’s legacy goes beyond his excellent T20Is numbers. After the 2018 ball-tampering incident, Australia were down and out without a quality white-ball skipper. Finch, who had previously held the role of the T20I skipper was now tasked to lead the ODI team as well, with Tim Paine deciding to focus solely on Tests.

Without any doubt, we can say that he has managed to build a solid core group of players, by backing the quality players and utilising them in the best way possible. As a captain, he gets very little credit for his tactical expertise. But, while on the job, he has turned out to be a very effective skipper. In fact, leading into the 2019 World Cup, Australia probably had the worst period of ODI cricket in their history, but under Finchy, they managed to reach the semi-finals.

Since taking over as the skipper, Finch’s form with the bat has also been consistent. He averages close to 50 and has been one of the best openers in white-ball cricket in the last few years. But, in 2021, he added another feather to his cap. He is now a World Cup-winning skipper and would be remembered as the leader who brought Australia their first men’s T20 World Cup. As Finch turns 34, he still has a few years of cricket left in him and would want to take his side to glory at the next T20 World Cup at home and then the 50 overs World Cup in 2023.