Aaron Finch to promote Maxwell up the order

Australia ODI skipper Finch also rated batsmen Peter Handscomb and Alex Carey high for their ability to handle spin.

Australia ODI skipper Aaron Finch (right) backs Glenn Maxwell to come out good in the ODI series against India.

 

Having clinched the T20I series against India, Australia skipper Aaron Finch on Friday said that his team's focus is now on the upcoming ODIs, with the first one to be played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Saturday.

Ahead of the game, Finch spoke on Glenn Maxwell’s form and the Kuldeep Yadav-Yuzvendra Chahal threat.

Excerpts from the press conference...

On the T20I series win...

It was very good to win the T20I series. We played really good cricket throughout those two games. Now we turn our attention to the one-day games. It's a great opportunity to keep improving on some things we've done in the last couple of series we've played. It's been a long time since we won a one-day series here, so we're very keen to keep improving and win.

On Maxwell’s eagerness to bat up the order...

Glenn will get an opportunity to bat higher than he did in the series against India in Australia, when he batted No.7. He'll bat a bit higher than that in this series, no doubt. He's been in some great form. His one-day cricket has been really good as well.

READ| Virat Kohli: 'Ready to bat at No.4 for the team's cause'

On Kuldeep, Chahal and the spin threat…

Yes, Pete (Peter Handscomb) is a very good player of spin. He had a 73 in Sydney and Maxwell is in really good form. Alex Carey is also a good player of spin. They [Kuldeep and Chahal] are a big threat, they have had the better of us in the last couple of times and we have been working hard on that. There are definitely plans in place.

On India’s record at home...

The batting is strong, they got Virat Kohli, who is arguably the best player of all time in ODI cricket. Rohit Sharma has been in good form for a long time. Shikhar Dhawan is very good too. Then they got experience in M.S. Dhoni and the guys down the bottom. Their wrist spin plays a big part, they have quicks who move the ball upfront and who also bowl well at the death. They have a really well-balanced side. They play well everywhere to be fair. I think when you have a team that has played together for a long time, you understand the strengths and weaknesses of your team-mates. So the guys are able to take the pressure off each other in certain situations.