No Rohit Sharma in Combined Australia-India XI of Aaron Finch

The game of cricket is suspended for over two months now in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. As a result, cricketers are interacting with their fans via virtual interviews or their social media accounts. Australia’s limited over captain Aaron Finch recently selected his combined XI from both India and Australia cricket teams. 

Though Finch selected some great cricket legends in his team, he shocked the fans by not picking India’s limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma. Rohit is one of the greatest openers to have ever played the game of cricket. In an interview with Sports Tak, Finch explained his decision of choosing Virender Sehwag instead of Rohit. 

Finch said, “Sehwag is my number one pick. He was so dominant. As soon he was on, the game was over. I want to go with Rohit Sharma, his record is amazing, but I want to watch Adam Gilchrist open with Virender Sehwag, hence I would pick Gilchrist,” 

An insight into the team by Aaron Finch

For the middle order, Finch picked Ricky Ponting, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, and Andrew Symonds. 

Australian skipper added, “I will go with Ricky Ponting at no. 3 and then Virat Kohli at 4. It’s such a tough position to bat at no. five. I would probably pick Hardik Pandya at no. 5 and Andrew Symonds at no. 6 positions.”

Picking MS Dhoni as the wicketkeeper-batsman of the team, Aaron Finch heaped praises on the former Indian captain saying that he handles the team very well. “Dhoni is a cool head under pressure, he takes the team over the line, be it in IPL or international cricket. If the team is 3 for 10, he comes out and gets the runs. If the team is chasing, he finds a way the team to get there,” he said.

To make his bowling department strong, Finch picked three pacers; Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee, and Jasprit Bumrah. The only thing which confused Aaron was the selection of a spin attack for his team. He couldn’t select among Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, and Brad Hogg. 

“I would pick Glenn Mcgrath, Brett Lee, and Jasprit Bumrah as my pace trio. Brad Hogg has such a great record, should I go with Harbhajan Singh or maybe Ravindra Jadeja to bat at eight to get extra batting option… I am unable to decide, who would I pick, I am saying players who I loved to watch, but I am unable to decide. It’s too hard to decide.”, revealed Finch. 

Aaron Finch’s all-time India-Australia XI:

Virender Sehwag, Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, Andrew Symonds, MS Dhoni, Brett Lee,(undecided spin bowling option), Glenn McGrath and Jasprit Bumrah.