Shane Watson hopes Aaron Finch can find his form before T20 World Cup

Former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson expressed concern over Aaron Finch's recent poor form ahead of the T20 World Cup later this year, claiming that the captain's IPL 2022 performance did not inspire confidence.

The 35-year-old has been dismissed for single digits nine times in his previous 18 T20I innings for Australia and, in the last year, has only made it past 50 twice in that time. 

During his lean patch, he struggled to score for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the recent IPL, scoring just 86 runs in five games at an average of 17.20.

Finch's extended lean patch in the shortest version of the game has left cricket experts wondering if he will be a burden to Australia in the T20 World Cup. 

"What I saw of him during the IPL, in particular for KKR (Kolkata Knight Riders), wasn't great, and it didn't fill me with a lot of confidence," Watson told Isa Guha for the ICC.

"But there's a lot of cricket leading up to the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, and I know he will be working through it as much as he can and, for Australia's sake, I really hope he can sort that out.

"But at the moment, it is pretty glaring. He has got the skills and he is one of the greatest short-form batters that has played for Australia, so he can definitely turn it around," the former all-rounder stated.

The former Australian opener stated that the Australia white-ball leader is overly concerned with incoming deliveries, which has been his biggest weakness across all formats of the game, and that the skipper should be more proactive, particularly in T20 cricket. 

Watson believes it is too late to replace Finch and that the skipper has plenty of games to work out his technical flaws before the showpiece tournament.

"The hierarchy of Australian cricket – (national selector) George Bailey and (coach) Andrew McDonald – are saying that Aaron Finch is going to be the captain for the T20 World Cup, so I would be surprised if they changed that," Watson noted.

"I've got my fingers crossed that Aaron is able to sort out what is going on with his technique," the legendary all-rounder concluded.