Picking all-time XI has become one of the trends among cricketers amid lockdown as Australia’s limited-overs vice-captain became the latest to join the bandwagon. The veteran cricketer recently named his India-Australia combined ODI XI. Well, cricket matches between India and Australia has certainly been a treat for many fans as the contest between the bat and the ball is tight and both the sides leave stones unturned to get the result to their favour. Finch, who himself has also played a lot of cricket against the Men in Blue, certainly made a strong team. However, some prominent names were also missing from the line-up. Aaron Finch Dismisses Michael Clarke’s ‘Players Were Saving IPL Contracts’ Claims.

Starting from the openers, the 33-year-old went with Indian dasher Virender Sehwag and Australian great Adam Gilchrist. “Sehwag is my number one pick. He was so dominant. As soon he was on, the game was over. I want to go with Rohit Sharma, his record is amazing, but I want to watch Adam Gilchrist open with Virender Sehwag, hence I would pick Gilchrist,” Finch said while talking to Sports Tak. India vs Australia 2020-21 Schedule, Free PDF Download: Get Fixtures and Venue Details of IND vs AUS T20I, Test and ODI Series.

Well, Finch certainly had a problem of plenty while picking the openers as both the nations have produced many terrific top-order batsmen. Owing to which, he missed out on the likes of Rohit Sharma, Sachin Tendulkar, Matthew Hayden and even his current opening partner David Warner.

In the middle order, Finch went with Ricky Ponting and Virat Kohli. At number five, however, the right-handed batsman went with Hardik Pandya ahead of the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey. Former Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds holds the number six spot.

“I will go with Ricky Ponting at no. 3 and then Virat Kohli at 4. It’s such a tough position to bat at no. five. I would probably pick Hardik Pandya at no. 5 and Andrew Symonds at no. 6 position,” the Australian captain said.

For the number seven spot, Finch chose India’s World Cup-winning captain MS Dhoni.

On being asked about who will don the gloves- Gilchrist or Dhoni- Finch says it doesn’t matter. “Dhoni is a cool head under pressure, he takes the team over the line, be it in IPL or international cricket. If the team is 3 for 10, he comes out and get the runs. If the team is chasing, he finds a way the team to get there,” Finch said.

Choosing a bowling attack was certainly not easy for Finch. Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath and Jasprit Bumrah are the quicks in his team while he was indecisive while choosing the spinner. “I would pick Glenn Mcgrath, Brett Lee, and Jasprit Bumrah as my pace trio,” he said. While trying to pick a spinner, he said: “Brad Hogg has such a great record, should I go with Harbhajan Singh or maybe Ravindra Jadeja to bat at eight to get extra batting option... I am unable to decide, who would I pick, I am saying players who I loved to watch, but I am unable to decide. It’s too hard to decide,” he added.

Aaron Finch’s All-Time India-Australia ODI XI: Virender Sehwag, Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, Andrew Symonds, MS Dhoni, Brett Lee, (Undecided spinner), Glenn McGrath and Jasprit Bumrah.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 06, 2020 09:39 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).