Aaron Finch wants Australia to go past Pakistan to become No. 1 T20I team
Their first match against Pakistan is in Sydney on November 3.
Australia are the biggest achievers in the cricketing world who are yet to win the world title in the T20I format and with the next T20 World Cup scheduled in their den next year, the Kangaroos are looking forward to a solid preparation to break the jinx and Cricket Australia (CA) have scheduled a number of games in the format to facilitate the build-up.
Skipper Aaron Finch, who led the former world champions in the 50-over format to the semi-finals of this year’s World Cup, eyes the No.1 ranking in the T20Is ahead of the showpiece event in 2020. Australia are currently ranked fourth in the list and will take on the No.1 place-holders Pakistan in a three-match series at home next month.
The Men in Yellow are currently playing Sri Lanka in a three-T20I series and won the first match handsomely by 134 runs. If they can clean sweep the two back-to-back series against the Asian opponents, Australia have a decent chance of toppling Pakistan, who are just 12 ratings ahead of them, from the top spot.
“That’s the goal (to become world No.1). We’re No.5 at the moment in the world and that’s probably been a real reflection of where we’ve been for the last couple of years,” 7News quoted Aaron Finch as saying. “There’s always times when you go through ups and downs as a side, but now we have a specific date in mind, which is the start of the World Cup (in October 2020).”
“Everything that we’re doing on and off the field is based around working back from the T20 World Cup,” he added.
Agar can grow into a finisher, feels Finch
Talking about individuals who can help Australia to achieve its mega goal, Finch banked on spinner Ashton Agar saying the 26-year-old left-arm spinner can grow into a “finisher” in the batting line-up to give his team that much flexibility. Agar made his T20I debut in 2016 but is still in his early days as he has played only 16 games so far.
Australia play Sri Lanka in the second game in Brisbane on Wednesday. Their first match against Pakistan is in Sydney on November 3.
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