T20 World Cup 2021 | We came here with clear plan to win the tournament, says Aaron Finch

Australia weren’t quite termed as tournament favourites at the start of the T20 World Cup 2021. The 2010 runners-up headed into the competition on the back of five successive T20I series losses, the most recent ones coming with a 1-4 margin each in West Indies and Bangladesh respectively.

However, with four wins from five Super 12s matches, they now find themselves in the semifinals, having inched past South Africa in the race on virtue of a superior net run-rate (NRR). 

As for skipper Aaron Finch, he always had the confidence of his team to deliver the goods as they aimed for their maiden T20 World Cup title.

"It's just one of those things that in the lead-up to the tournament you tend to hear things or see the odd quote or comment that people have written you off," Finch said. "It's interesting how the narrative can change really quick. About 10 days ago our team was too old and now, we're an experienced team.

"That's just how it all gets portrayed. From day one, I've had a lot of confidence in the way that we've gone about this with the squad that we've got. I don't think that we've exceeded our expectations whatsoever. We came here with a really clear plan to win this tournament, and we're still alive to do that."

Australia were without the services of one or more of their experienced players during the various bilateral series during the year or so, which presented opportunities to young guns like Daniel Sams, Joshua Phillippe, Riley Meredith and Nathan Ellis to earn their maiden T20I caps. The current World Cup squad features seasoned leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson and uncapped wicket-keeper batsman Josh Inglis, both of whom have excelled at the Big Bash League in recent years.

Finch was pleased with the kind of depth in Australia’s limited-overs setup.

"One thing I'm really proud of is how we've started to uncover a little bit more depth in T20 cricket in Australia," Finch said. "Some guys who mightn't have got an opportunity in the past if everyone was available, they got a good opportunity to test themselves in international cricket.

"I think in the long run, over the next two or three years, this period of Australian cricket will help us uncover more talent and more depth, especially in the white-ball format. That's something I'm really proud of. Although the results previous to this World Cup hadn't gone our way a huge amount, there was so much learning that we got out of that."

Australia will play Pakistan in the second semifinal at the Dubai International Stadium on Thursday, November 11.