IPL 2022 | Aaron Finch is out of touch, would be ‘big liability’ for T20 World Cup, remarks Shane Watson

05/20/2022

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Shane Watson feels that Aaron Finch, Australia's captain, would be a ‘big liability’ for the upcoming T20 World Cup if he continues to play poorly as an opener. Finch, barring one good knock against Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2022, failed to get going on every occasion for Kolkata Knight Riders.

Aaron Finch has not been performing well for some time now. Australia's limited-overs skipper joined Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 as a replacement of Alex Hales, who opted out from the tournament due to bio-bubble fatigue. Finch had a tremendous opportunity to break the jinx, as he had always been poor in IPL. KKR did not have a solid opener than Finch, but all he managed this season was a disappointment.

Barring one good knock against Rajasthan Royals (RR), Finch struggled to get going in almost every occasion as an opener. His countrymate Shane Watson believes if he continues this form, he would be a ‘big liability’ for the next T20 World Cup, which will take place in Australia later this year.

"Unfortunately, right now, the way he's batting and what I've seen during this IPL, he's batting nowhere near his best. Whatever is going on, the things he's working on with his technique and mindset, it's changed a lot from when he's been at his best," Watson, an assistant coach with Delhi Capitals, told the Grade Cricketer.

"I believe if he's not scoring runs in the lead up to the T20 World Cup, and it's along similar lines to what we saw here for KKR, you can't pick him. At the moment he's so far out of touch, no matter how good your captaincy skills are, if he continues to bat the way he is, it would be a big liability, especially as an opener."

Finch scored 86 runs in five outings for KKR, of which 58 came against RR.