Aaron Finch is an ideal man to lead Australia in ODI cricket, says Pat Cummins

Finch replaced Tim Paine as Australia's ODI captain.

Pat Cummins is back to Australia's ODI squad after a long injury hiatus | Getty

Australia speedster Pat Cummins has heaped praise on the newly appointed ODI captain Aaron Finch, saying that the swashbuckling opener is an ideal man to lead the country in playing fearless cricket.

Finch will spearhead Australia's ODI side in the upcoming home series against South Africa as the selectors decided to drop Tim Paine from the 14-member squad. Cummins, who was out of action since last 6 months due to back injury, has also been named in the squad.

"He's perfect for the job. You see how he bats, he's quite fearless, he takes the game on. I think the trend in one-day cricket at the moment is you've got to be totally fearless, take the game on, relax,” Cummins quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.

"You might get smashed sometimes going for the 350-400 score but that's the way it's played. Hopefully he brings that to the team and has his own little spin on the team like any captain does. He's someone who's played a lot, knows the game really well and is a really good communicator. I'm sure he'll be great in the role," he added.

With less than 10 months to for the World Cup in England, Cummins feels Australia's campaign for their title defence starts with the upcoming three-ODI series against South Africa.

Australia were whitewashed 0-5 in England earlier this year, but that squad was without six key players, including Cummins, which resulted in the team slipping to sixth spot in the ODI rankings, their lowest position since 1984.

"I think you see in this team … Finch is one of the most in-form batsmen in the world at the moment for one-day cricket," Cummins said.

"You've got people like (Glenn) Maxwell, (Chris) Lynn, guys that can change the game in 10 overs. Mitchell Starc was the best player in the last World Cup and Josh Hazlewood has been No.1 (ODI bowler) in the world. We've got some real match-winners in the team, so all it takes is one or two of them to come off and the rest of us to be pretty consistent and we should go far," he concluded.

Australia ODI squad vs South Africa:

Aaron Finch (c), Josh Hazlewood, Alex Carey, Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Chris Lynn, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, D'Arcy Short, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa

Itinerary:

November 4: 1st ODI, Perth

November 9: 2nd ODI, Adelaide Oval

November 11: 3rd ODI, Hobart

 
 

By Salman Anjum - 27 Oct, 2018

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