Former Australia opener, Simon Katich has advised Aaron Finch, who made his Test debut as an opener in the 0-1 series defeat to Pakistan in the UAE this year, to bat lower down the order during the much-needed four-match Test series against India which begins on December 6 at the Adelaide.
Finch made a fine impression on Test debut averaging 45.25 against Pakistan in the two Tests. However, Katich believes conditions in Australia will demand Finch to bat in the middle order. During a recent chat with SEN radio station, Katich said, “Aaron Finch’s best place in this batting line up is at five, purely for these conditions. I know he had a good start to his Test career in the UAE but the conditions here in Australia are so different against the new ball with more pace and bounce. Australia needs to set up their innings with their top three.”
Katich reckons Finch is a good player of spin, which will come in handy when India hand the ball to ace spinners like Ravichandran Ashwin Ravindra Jadeja or Kuldeep Yadav.
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The former opener explained, “India has got a good pace attack. The fast bowlers they’ve got at their disposal now, they’ve got a good battery that is all around the 140kph mark. The other thing about Finch batting at five is he is a good player of spin coming out against an older ball with the spinners on, someone like Ravichandran Ashwin bowling or potentially Kuldeep Yadav, he’ll have a big role to play.”
Meanwhile, as Khawaja is nursing a knee injury, Katich, who has scored 4188 runs in 56 Tests at an average of 45.03, said that Matthew Renshaw could find himself in the reckoning.
Katich concluded, “It’s a good challenge for Renshaw. If he knows he can get runs and he gets picked, it’s going to do his confidence the world of good leading into the Test series against India. It’s just a shame he didn’t get to play that Test series in the UAE because he was coming off a really good winter period in England playing for Somerset. He batted at three there, so he’s shown he’s adaptable, he could potentially bat at three if they decide to keep Finch at the top of the order and depending on what happens with Khawaja’s injury. This week for him is a big week.”
