T20 WC 2022 | Aaron Finch expects spinners to play a crucial role

With just 100 days to go for the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 Down Under in October, Australian skipper Aaron Finch has said that spinners will play a vital role in the tournament.

Australia, who won their maiden T20 World Cup under Finch in the 2021 edition in the UAE, said, "Spin is always going to have an impact in T20 cricket, especially on bigger grounds in Australia. Here you have got to hit it a way to get it to the boundary so I think spin will play a big part, especially in the middle overs. Wickets in middle overs are going to be crucial as well.

"All the stats suggest, if you are two down going into the final five overs it doesn’t matter who is bowling. You could have the best (bowler) of all time, they are still going to cop some pain."

The defending champions will once again bank on Adam Zampa, the second-highest wicket-taker in the last edition with 13 wickets from seven games.

Another player Finch will rely on from the Australian side is Josh Hazlewood. Hazlewood has been in red hot form in the shortest format of the game, claiming 20 wickets in IPL 2022 for RCB in just 12 appearances.

Finch said, "He has always had the skill. For such a long time his focus was just on Test cricket and he didn't have a proper block of training to concentrate on T20 cricket.

"I think he got that in the lead-up to the last World Cup, while playing all 14 games for Chennai (Super Kings) plus a couple of finals in the IPL (also helped).His ability to upskill so quickly is not a surprise as he is highly skilled. How consistent he is and how efficient in all conditions has been remarkable, but not surprising."

Finch also spoke about a few strategies, including plans for Tim David that the Australian side might devise in the competition that begins on October 16.

"That time (a debut) will come for Tim. He is such a valuable asset. Guys with that power, bowl a few overs and are good in the field, he will slot into a lot of T20 sides.

"There are going to be opportunities there, especially with the amount of cricket that is going to be played over the next three months until that World Cup starts," he concluded.

Australia won their last T20I series against Sri Lanka, beating them 2-1 in their own backyard.