Though Australia is one of the favourites in the upcoming ICC World Cup, Australia captain Aaron Finch considers the host England and India as favourites in the tournament. However, David Warner and Steve Smith’s return in the national team after one year ban for the ball-tampering scandal has strengthened their side more as well as that lifted the team’s spirit also. While speaking at the pre-tournament press conference of captains’ on Thursday (May 23), Finch shared that he is confident about Smith and Warner as they will do good in the upcoming mega event.
“Since Warner and Smith have come back into the set-up they have been fantastic and contributed so much. The morale has been unbelievable,” said the veteran. “Once it gets underway, particularly against England, and further on for the Ashes, the crowd will play a part but that is expected everywhere in the world,” he told.
“We have plans in place for that, and their (Warner and Smith’s) squad input and output in terms of the runs they have been making has been fantastic,” he added.
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The defending champions Australia have been in a formidable form after winning back-to-back series against India and Pakistan. But captain Aaron Finch believes that India and England are the two team who can win the title this year.
“England have been in great form and along with India are probably the stand out performers. So England in home conditions are definitely the favourites,” Finch expressed. “It is important to have some guys that have that World Cup experience, so to have six players in our squad who have been part of a winning World Cup is great. This is a different tournament but it will be a great one,” the captain shared.
Finch admitted that the series against India played a crucial part for them as they found their winning groove after a long time. They won by 3-2 there.
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“The belief we got from that series was huge, you hang in there and you can turn anything around,” Finch said. “You have to keep hanging in there and believe when you get to the big moments that you can create something. As a team we are really excited, we have been together since May 2 and tried not to put all our energy into the preparation. You cannot win it before it has started. So we are trying to make sure we are fresh, but we are excited. There will definitely be nerves about but that is natural. We cannot wait and I wish it started tomorrow,” the captain expressed.
