,Australia captain Aaron Finch believes David Warner will enter this year’s World Cup desperate to prove himself as the disgraced batsman prepares to rejoin his teammates after a ball-tampering ban.
Warner has been in red-hot form in the India Premier Leagueafter completing a 12-month suspension for cheating, averaging 69.20 in 12innings, including a century and eight fifties.
Finch expected the fierybatsman to also dominate on the international stage, providing a massive boostfor Australia as the reigning champions chase a sixth World Cup trophy.
“He’s coming back with ahuge hunger, not just to perform well for his franchise, but to dominateinternational cricket again,” Finch told Melbourne commercial radio Wednesday.
“When you have your dream taken away from you for 12 months,I can imagine there’s something inside you that burns really strongly.” Finchsaid the ban, imposed after Warner masterminded the “Sandpaper-gate” scandal inCape Town last year, had given the 32-year-old a chance to refresh his game.
“He’s a super player, weknow how destructive he can be,” he said.
“I think having time offto spend with his family and get away from the game (was important).” Warnerand former Australian captain Steve Smith, who was also banned over thecheating scandal, will officially rejoin the Australian squad for the firsttime at a training camp in Brisbane on Friday.
Finch did not expect anyproblems re-integrating them into the team, even though the former captain anddeputy will have to defer to a new leadership team.
He said he would consult the pair about on-field tactics.
“I’ll be using them asmuch as I can tactically because they’ve both captained a lot of cricket andare very good captains on the field,” he said.
“It would be really naiveof me not to lean on them.” Finch also revealed he feared for his own spot onthe team after a recent barren run, although he believed he had now returned toform.
“In the back of your mind you’re thinking, ‘Gee, the WorldCup isn’t far away, as a captain I could be left out of the squad’,” he said.
“Then you start puttingunrealistic pressure on yourself to perform.” Finch had an unsuccessful spellin the Test side last year, averaging 27.80 in five matches, and conceded thatat 32 his career in the long-form game was over.
“My chances to play Test cricket again have probably slippedaway,” he said.
“I’m still very gratefulfor the opportunity… I’m OK with that because I gave it everything I could.” AFP