Dressing room leaks disappointing; Australia can still bag the World T20 title, asserts Aaron Finch
Australia's limited-overs captain Aaron Finch stated that things get heated up as a result of successive losses and it's disappointing to see the way things have come out in the open. However, he added that a full-strength Australian team are still capable of winning the T20 World Cup.
Things have gone south for Australia in the last few months as they succumbed to T20I series defeats in West Indies and Bangladesh respectively. To top it off, a major controversy erupted in Bangladesh when Australian team manager Gavin Dovey was involved in a heated spat with CA's digital journalist. It was followed by the team's head coach Justin Langer also having a word with the journalist before they finally buried the hatchet.Ā Ā
Opening up on the whole controversy, Aaron Finch remarked that the tensions arising from the dressing room concerning Justin Langerās coaching style were disappointing but feels it was a result of pressure. Langer has been in a spot of turmoil in recent times following Australiaās 4-1 T20I series defeats at the hands of the West Indies and Bangladesh.
"There's always tension when results don't go your way in all sports. Wins and losses are what count. I think anytime that doesn't happen, that all gets amplified. It's just one of those things. It's disappointing that things are coming to the front the way that they are, that's never ideal. It's just one of those things that keeps popping up, which is disappointing," stated Aaron Finch.
Australia have been sub-par in the recent T20Is but the absence of several stars has also played a key part in the downward spiral. Newly-appointed national selector George Bailey and Langer have announced that Australia will be welcoming back their core players like David Warner, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell and Pat Cummins after they were unavailable for the recent tours. Finch feels that a full-strength Australian side are just as good as any other side in the world.Ā
"Absolutely. I've got no doubt that our best is as good as or better than anyone in the world. There's a lot of experience there. There's firepower, there's class. I think that our best team covers all bases. And that's what I'm really excited about.āā
He also stated that he will be fit and healthy for the practice matches, irrespective of undergoing knee surgery to repair cartilage damage a few days back.
"It's looking on track. Obviously it's hard to know until you get deep into your rehab but at this stage it's just about trying to ice it and get as much swelling down as possible. That's coming down. I'm walking around fine. There's no pain. At this stage everything is looking really positive and having a little bit of time up my sleeve at the back end will be really important."
"The plan is to be batting in four weeks and fully running and in full training in six to seven weeks. From the day of surgery it was 10-and-a-half weeks to that first World Cup game. That's still really positive."