Melbourne: Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell believes that right-hand batsman Aaron Finch’s success as an opening batsman in their recently-concluded Test series against Pakistan has cost him a place in the national side for the final Test against India in their ongoing home series.
Maxwell said that Finch is more accustomed to play in the middle-order position and his good show as an opener against Pakistan made selectors think that he could open for Australia against India, as well, which ultimately did not happen.
“He was probably a victim of his own success in the UAE. Having batted so well as an opener there it probably drove the Australia selectors and coaches to put him up there (against India) and I suppose that was fair enough,” Cricket.com.au quoted Maxwell, as saying.
The swashbuckling batsman hoped that Finch would not lose his confidence as a Test cricketer and gets a chance to play in the middle order.
“I hope that (being dropped) doesn’t finish Finch off as a Test cricketer and hopefully next time he gets an opportunity he can bat in a position that I think – and a lot of Australia thinks – he’s more accustomed to,” Maxwell said.
“Hopefully at some stage, he gets an opportunity to bat in the middle order and show the class he does have,” he added.
Finch was dropped from the Australian Test side for their last Test against India following his poor performance in the first three Tests of the ongoing series where he was sent as an opening batsman.
India scored a total of 303 runs on Day One of the fourth Test at the loss of four wickets. Pujara’s centurion knock and Agarwal’s crucial contribution of 77 runs were some of the highlights of the opening day of the match.
[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]