Former Australian captain Ian Chappell believes that Aaron Finch's current run of form is set to give selectors a major headache as the World Cup draws closer. Adding to his assessment, Chappell also said that Test cricket is 'probably the worst thing that has happened to him.'
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"It's a hell of a headache for the selectors," Chappell told Wide World of Sports. "But you have to think about what is worse, dropping him now or dropping him in the middle of the World Cup?"
"Probably the worst thing that happened to Aaron Finch was playing Test cricket," Chappell added. "Certainly India worked him out in the Test matches, and that flowed on into the one-day series. He's playing like a man without much confidence. You get the feeling confidence was such a huge part of his one-day batting, and I'm not sure if one score against Pakistan in the UAE is going to restore that, especially if he continues to struggle through the rest of the Indian series."
Finch, who made his Test debut in October 2018, started off in absolute style, scoring 62 and 49 against Pakistan. However, his form in limited-over format has since taken a massive hit. Since his half-century against Pakistan, Finch has managed to cross the 20-run mark in ODIs just once, scoring a mere 83 runs in the 6 innings.
Adding to his misery, his average has gone down to 11.85 in ODI cricket and 7.50 in T20Is (since his Test debut). In his past four games, the Finch has been dismissed in single digits thrice, including a recent duck against India in the 1st ODI, which has led to Chappell assessing that his numbers are sure to give selectors a massive headache.
His T20 form, on the other hand, has faced a similar fate altogether since his Test debut; 10 innings, 75 runs. Hence, in case Finch is left out for the World Cup, Chappell believes that Pat Cummins could well and truly be given the reins.
"He's probably the outstanding candidate. They might be forced to go with Cummins, but it's not an ideal situation and it's a hell of a headache for the selectors. And it's a headache that's been looming ever since Finch started to struggle."
