'He’s done it before': Finch tipped to rebound

Having revealed his anguish during a form slump two years ago that almost ruined his World Cup dream, Aaron Finch has been backed to again return to his best form ahead of this year's showpiece event.

Finch's 14-ball innings of 12 in Australia's loss to New Zealand on Thursday extended his current run drought to 26 T20 innings without a half-century, a streak stretching back to last year's Indian Premier League.

The Australian captain made scores of 114, 60 and 75 in one-day cricket to start the home summer but has since been unable to find his best for both the Melbourne Renegades and Australia and was last week overlooked in the IPL auction.

His current streak of 11 innings without passing 20 is reminiscent of a similar run drought two years ago, with his fears that he was going to be dropped for the 50-over World Cup laid bare in The Test documentary.

On that occasion, the right-hander was dismissed eight times in a row for less than 15 and revealed in The Test that he would "wake up in a cold sweat" as the mental anguish of his form slump consumed him.

"Everything gets clouded and you doubt everything that you do when you're searching for a way to get back to form," he told the Amazon Prime documentary, which this week was recognised at the Sport Australia Media Awards for the Best Broadcast Profile.

"I was doubting everything I was doing.

"There's things that you see within the game that you feel like you have to address but then you're conscious that you're like, 'I'm not doing my job myself so how am I in a position to tell other people how to do their job if I'm not doing my own right?'"

Having had a frank conversation about his future as captain with coach Justin Langer and selector Trevor Hohns, Finch returned to his best on a one-day tour of India and went on to average more than 50 at the 2019 ODI World Cup, including two hundreds, as Australia reached the semi-finals.

Paceman Kane Richardson, who has spent more time than most with Finch in the past two months, has joined the chorus of those within the Australian team set-up backing the skipper to produce a similar form reversal ahead of this year's T20 World Cup in India, which is still some eight months away.

"He's come out of these things (before)," Richardson, Finch's Big Bash and international teammate, said in Wellington on Friday.

"It'd be a different story if this was something he hadn't faced at some point in his career but, to be honest, everyone goes through this at some point.

"He'll work it out. He's a gun, he's played so much T20 cricket in all different conditions so it might just take one innings to click, to get off to a flyer and get through the Powerplay and he'll be away.

"I'm sure his mental strength will get him through this because he's done it before."

Test skipper Tim Paine said on Friday he'll be in touch with his white-ball counterpart this week, adding he empathises with the Victorian's plight.

"I might send him a bit of support this week because I was certainly going through similar things on the backend of the Indian series and it's a pretty difficult spot to be in," Paine told SEN.

"We know Finchy's a class player, he's one of our best players, he's one of the best T20 opening batters in the world. He'll come good at some stage."

Having also been given public support this week from teammate Marcus Stoinis, stand-in head coach Andrew McDonald and past players Shane Warne and Ian Healy, Finch's demeanour amongst his teammates hadn't changed despite the run of outs, according to Richardson.

"If you came into our camp today, you wouldn't know that he's struggling for runs," he said. "He's still the same Finchy

"He hasn't changed at all in terms of how he is around the group with us, how he is on the field in terms of being captain and his plans.

"So that's a massive tick for him, to not let his own form come into how he is away from cricket, but also how he is on the field trying to marshal us.

"We just want to see him make some runs for himself. We all know how tough the game can be when you're not getting the output you want, so just for him, it'd be nice to see him make some runs.

"In this game of T20, it could be one shot that he gets right, and it just flows on. I'm sure in the next three games it's going to happen."

The dates for this year's World Cup are yet to be locked in but it's expected to start in October, giving Finch plenty of time to find his best form.

His absence from the IPL this year means he is set to return to state cricket with Victoria at the end of the NZ Tour, while he's also been signed by the Northern Superchargers for the inaugural season of The Hundred in the UK.

Qantas T20I tour of New Zealand 2021

Australia squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Daniel Sams, Tanveer Sangha, D'Arcy Short, Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa.

New Zealand squad: Kane Williamson (c), Hamish Bennett, Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, *Martin Guptill (pending fitness test), Kyle Jamieson, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert (wk), Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee. *Finn Allen (on stand-by for Guptill)

1st T20: New Zealand won by 53 runs

2nd T20: New Zealand won by four runs

3rd T20: March 3, Sky Stadium, Wellington, 5pm AEDT

4th T20: March 5, Eden Park, Auckland, 5pm AEDT

5th T20: March 7, Bay Oval, Tauranga, 12noon AEDT

All matches will be shown live in Australia on Fox Cricket and Kayo