Aaron Finch left surprised after being omitted from Fox Cricket's Probable XI for 2023 World Cup

The proliferation of the global pandemic that is the novel Coronavirus [COVID-19] has put a screeching halt to life. From schools, offices, colleges to gyms, libraries, airports, railway stations, everything has been put on the backburner as people lock themselves behind closed doors in a bid to self-isolate and avert the proliferation of the deadly virus.

The world of sports has been one of the hardest-hit arenas with almost high-profile events like Olympics, La Liga, Premier League and NBA getting postponed till the unforeseeable future. The same is in the case of cricket. With almost every event getting postponed and no live-action to report on, cricket websites are restoring to unique concepts to keep the fans engaged.

In a bid to keep the fans interested, Fox Cricket has been coming up with Australia’s Probable XI for the forthcoming events in the future like the Ashes and World Cup. On Friday, the website predicted eleven for the 2023 fifty-over World Cup which is scheduled to take place in India.

And, on a rather surprising note, the website omitted the current Australian white-ball captain and swashbuckling opener, Aaron Finch, from their playing XI and chose Steven Smith as the leader of their side.

Fox Cricket chooses Steve Smith as captain for 2023 World Cup

Fox shared their probable XI on Twitter and needless to say Aaron Finch was as surprised as we all are.

Fox Cricket chose Josh Phillipe-the swashbuckling wicketkeeper-opener to open the innings alongside veteran David Warner, who they think is an exception to the age-factor, unlike Finch.

“While we’re saying 36 won’t be too old for Warner, we’re predicting that he’s the exception. That means Aaron Finch – who chose the same age – doesn’t make our XI. In his place comes talented youngster Josh Philippe whose future looks awfully bright” said Fox Cricket.

Meanwhile, the one-down spot is occupied by Marnus Labuschagne chosen by Steve Smith– the designated captain of the side. Alex Carey and swashbuckler Glenn Maxwell have been chosen as the finishers while Cameron Green, Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar have been picked as the members of the spin-attack. Interestingly, only two pacers in the form of Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins have been chosen in the playing XI.