India vs Australia | Aaron Finch proved that he belongs at Test level, asserts Ricky Ponting
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Ricky Ponting has stated that after scoring a half century today in Perth, Aaron Finch has proved that he belongs at the opening slot even in the longest format of the game. Finch had failed to make an impact in the previous match at the Adelaide Oval with scores of 0 and 11 in the opener.
The Indian bowlers were made to work hard on the first day of the second Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy thanks to a 112 runs opening stand between openers Aaron Finch and Marcus Harris. The first wicket to fall was that of Finch after he was caught plumb in front by Jasprit Bumrah. But before departing Finch along with his partner set a solid foundation to the Australian innings and former Australian captain Ricky Ponting seemed to be satisfied with the way Finch performed.
"What it showed today to everybody, and more importantly to himself, is that he has got a game that can stand up opening the batting at Test level," Ponting told cricket.com.au.Â
"He's been working hard on a few things over the last few weeks and I know Justin Langer did a lot of really good stuff with him in Adelaide on the night the (first Test) finished, a few balance things and few things to take the weight out of his front leg and not fall so much across his stumps."
Finch made a total of 50 runs at the strike rate of 47 before being picked by Bumrah. Ponting added that throughout the day Finch faced little problems and looked really comfortable at the crease.
"He had a few moments today where he did that a little bit, but in general I thought he played really well. He looked to be aggressive, play the ball off the back foot, which is a really good sign for him. It means he's not getting onto the front foot too early."Â
Though Finch managed a fifty, Ponting assessed that Finch would really be disappointed about not getting a big hundred at the new Perth Stadium.
"He'd be disappointed to get out the way he got out after being 50 and batting a long period of time, then missing a full, straight one."
Ponting also compared Finch’s playing style to that of his and stated that he had to regularly adjust those little things to always keep improving his batting.
"The way that he plays, looking to get forward and across his stumps, is sort of the way I played," he said.Â
"It was the little things that I had to work on right through my career, just to help out with my balance and 'un-weighting' my front leg if you like, to load up a bit of weight on my back foot and making one move into the ball rather than trying to make two or three movements."
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