Former Australia white-ball captain Aaron Finch has come down heavily on all-rounder Marcus Stoinis for announcing his ODI retirement just after he had been named in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 squad by the CA selectors.

Stoinis decided to bring down the curtains on his 50-over format career last week, just days before the start of the Champions Trophy. He stated that he would be available for the T20I, and this led to Australia looking for replacements amidst injury chaos in the squad.

Australia has already lost the services of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Cameron Green, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Marsh and now Marcus Stoinis.

Aaron Finch stated that Stoinis should have conveyed his decision more clearly to the coach and captain before being selected for the squad. The former Australian skipper also believes the call was not spontaneous.

"When you've had the faith put in you by the selection, the coach, and the captain - maybe a little bit more of a heads up? Saying, 'You know, this is what I am thinking.' I would be surprised if it was an off-the-cuff decision as well, I am sure there would have been planning down the track, there would have been conversations between Andrew McDonald and Marcus Stoinis to try to get to the decision," said Finch on ESPN Australia's Around The Wicket podcast.

Finch also speculated that Stoinis' decision to stop his ODI career was due to the onerous cricket calendar. Stoinis was a member of Australia's white-ball squad for a series against Pakistan before moving on to the Big Bash League and SA20.

Finch also pointed out that Stoinis has preferred the T20 circuit in the last few months, and playing the IPL 2025 right afterthe  Champions Trophy would’ve been difficult for the all-rounder.

"At the end of the day, each player has the opportunity to decide what their fate is going forward. For me, if you look at Marcus Stoinis for the last couple of years, he's preferred to play the T20 route. Being in Pakistan, then straight to India after a summer of cricket at home, that can potentially be four-five months on the road, so maybe that contributed to the decision," Finch added.

Steve Smith has been named captain of the Australia team for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in the absence of Pat Cummins.

Australia Champions Trophy squad:

Steve Smith (C), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey (WK), Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (WK), Spencer Johnson, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matthew Short, Adam Zampa.

Travelling reserve: Cooper Connolly.