Australian white-ball captain Aaron Finch has come out in support of under-fire speedster Mitchell Starc, saying the experienced bowler will bounce back as the home series continues against India.
The left-arm paceman has been Australia's most expensive bowler so far in the ongoing three-match ODI series, finishing with figures of 0-82 from 9 overs after conceding a combined 147 runs for just one wicket against Team India at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
However, Finch admitted that Starc “hasn’t been at his very best” in the first two ODIs, but believes that the circumstances conspired to give him a lackluster show against Men in Blue, revealing there were discussions about how to deploy the speedster ahead of the final ODI in Canberra on 2 December.
Finch told reporters on Tuesday: “I think he's going OK. He hasn't been at his very best and you have to understand that his standards are a lot higher than what you expect from most other people because of how dominant he's been the last eight, nine years -- especially in the white-ball formats.”
The skipper further added, “There will be some conversations had today about what we can do slightly different, whether it's a tactical thing when we're using him through the innings. But there's definitely no panic stations from my point of view.”
Meanwhile, the opening batsman heaped praise on Steve Smith who hit back-to-back centuries in the first 2 ODIs, and expected him to play a major role in the four-match Test series against India starting on 17 December with a Day-Night Test match at Adelaide Oval.
Finch signed off by saying, “For someone like Smithy, once he's going he can be a hard man to stop regardless of conditions. If he's confident in himself and is feeling good against a certain bowler, then that's definitely playing into his hands.”
(With Reuters Inputs)
