Australia’s limited-overs captain Aaron Finch is due for a late fitness test and continuous assessment of his side strain condition ahead of Sunday’s first T20I against Sri Lanka at the Adelaide Oval on October 27. Finch, on his part, though is confident of coming through and featuring in the series opener.
“It’s still two days before the game. (I’ll) test it out over the next two days but it is feeling like it’ll be fine,” Finch said on Friday. “It [back spasm] sort of started to get better and then I felt a bit of a twinge in my side. As a result, had a scan on Friday in Perth and [it was] just a little tear there, not a hell of a lot. So I still think I’ll be fine on Sunday,” he added.
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Finch revealed he may have suffered the side strain during his manic 44-ball 57 for Victoria in the Sheffield Shield game against South Australia, played earlier this month.
“The side [strain] is something that’s totally new. Sitting down for a couple of days in that Shield game at the Junction Oval and then coming out and trying to swing a bit too hard. It wasn’t one [shot] in particular. Could have been a number. I went pretty hard,” Finch said.
Despite the impact of such an effort, Finch is confident that the strain won’t hamper him and his game-time in the long term. “I don’t think it’s going to be a long-term injury. I’m feeling better and better every day. It’ll be a case of having a hit today, assessing how it goes, having a hit tomorrow and keep reassessing each day,” he said.
Should Finch fail to make the cut for Sunday, Australia could have a fast-bowling skipper in Pat Cummins.
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“Yeah it’ll be fine. Obviously lots of guys have probably played a bit more T20 cricket than me and captained a lot more than me. We’ll wait and see and hopefully Finchy will be alright. In T20 cricket, we’ve seen in a few leagues around the world, there have been fast bowling captains more than in other formats. You choose who you think is best for the role regardless of their role in the side,” Cummins said.
The three T20Is between Australia and Sri Lanka are scheduled to be played on October 27, October 30 and November 1.
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