ICC World Cup 2019: Aaron Finch admits picking Australian squad for ICC mega event will be "bloody hard"

The five-time World Champions Australia are slowly and surely getting their mojo back with back-to-back ODI series wins over Asian giants India and now Pakistan and that too in their own den. Australia, which was pummeled in ODI cricket in last year and a half, including losses to England and India in their own home, has made an impressive comeback.

Australia defeated India 2-0 in the T20I series and then beat them 3-2 in the ODI series, coming back from a 0-2 deficit. Now they have defeated Pakistan in the first three ODI matches of the five-match series, on the back of their captain Aaron Finch’s brilliant form, which includes two centuries and a score of 90. This bodes well for the defending champions as the World Cup is nearing and this series is their final chance to fine-tune their squad and make final selections decisions.

Aaron Finch comments on World Cup selection

One of the biggest conundrums for the Australian team management is how to fit in the duo of Steve Smith and David Warner into the squad given that their respective bans end on March 29. Finch, Australia captain, who has scored 479 runs in 3 matches, spoke about the selection dilemma.

“It is bloody hard. Especially when the side is playing so well, it’s going to be difficult. No matter who it is. I will definitely have my views – and Justin (Langer, the coach) and I, we talk all the time, every day about selections and team make-ups, different scenarios and things like that. At the end of the day, they’re the selectors and it’s an incredibly tough decision. Whatever balance you go with in that 15-man squad (for the World Cup), there’s going to be some very unlucky blokes out there,” Finch was quoted as saying by CricketNext.

With the likes of Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell and Peter Handscomb adding value to the Australian middle order, the team looks to have a settled team ready to keep the trophy at home. Marsh had hit 91 in the first ODI against Pakistan, while Handscomb had done well against India, scoring his maiden century in the ODI series. Maxwell had shown how destructive he can be when it comes to batting lower down the order.

“I think leading up to the 2015 World Cup, we’d had the same 15 players for a good 18 months or so. That goes a long way – not just to your culture but just an understanding of how each other plays. How Maxi (Maxwell) is going to play in this scenario or how I’m going to play or SOS (Marsh) or Uzzie (Khawaja). It just helps out a lot and it’s been great that we’ve had a really similar squad for quite a while now,” Finch added to his earlier comments.

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