Finch injury has Aussies in captaincy spin

Cricket365
February 1, 2016

A hamstring injury to Aaron Finch has created a captaincy quandary for the Australia selectors ahead of the third and final T20 against India on Sunday, although batsman Usman Khawaja is a strong contender to replace Finch in the squad.

Opening batsman Finch led the Aussies to a defeat on Friday in Melbourne which means they now cannot win the three-match series against the Asian side.

Of more concern though is the injury that Finch picked up and with Steve Smith and David Warner already in New Zealand preparing for an ODI series, the selectors have limited options on who to lead the team in Sydney.

The captaincy contenders in the current squad would be allrounder Shane Watson, batsman Shaun Marsh or wicketkeeper Matthew Wade, however they could also summon former ODI skipper George Bailey for Sunday's game.

Watson said after Australia's series-sealing defeat: "Aaron is being assessed at the moment but unfortunately he's definitely done some form of damage to his hamstring.

"At this point in time obviously we don't exactly know the extent, but unfortunately for 'Finchy' it's at least probably a week or so out, from my own personal experience a number of times.

"It's very unfortunate for him because he batted beautifully again tonight."

The selectors will be under pressure to now add Khawaja to the squad, not just for T20I but also for the ODIs in New Zealand if Finch is ruled out.

Khawaja has been in sublime form with the willow for Australia in Test cricket while he topped the averages playing for the Sydney Thunder in the recently concluded T20 Big Bash League.