Barely able to buy a run in international cricket 12 months ago, Finch has capped off his remarkable form resurgence with a brilliant century in Mumbai
'Best I've ever seen him bat' - Warner's praise for Finch
Aaron Finch has gone from under-the-pump to one half of the world's best opening partnership in one-day cricket in the space of a year.
Finch's unbeaten 110 in Tuesday night's 10-wicket flogging of India marked his fifth century in 10 months at the top of the Australian order.
Crucially though, it was his 248-run stand with David Warner that was just as impressive, as it broke the record for the highest unbeaten Australian partnership in history.
The backbone of Australia's World Cup assault last year, Warner and Finch have now scored 924 runs batting together since Warner's return from his ban.
David Warner and Aaron Finch could still be Australia's opening combination for the 2023 World Cup in India ... but there's a few things they need to tick off at home first! @alintaenergy | #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/3i93tlScDB— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 14, 2020
The pair's average of 92.40 together is also the best of any opening combination over the past year, eclipsing Indian rivals KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma.
It's a far cry from Finch's position early last year, where he was out of form and questions were even asked of if he would be squeezed out of the top order had he not been captain.
"We know each other's games so well and personalities that now we can have honest conversations out there," Warner said.
"It's just great to go out there and play the way that we do, when he's going I know what my role is.
"And when I'm going he knows what his role is and we communicate that straightaway and I think that's the best thing about our partnership,
"It works very well. It's great and I absolutely love it and he loves it and hopefully we can keep looking forward to that next World Cup (in 2023)."
Finch's knock against India in Tuesday night's win was as good as any of his career and is an ominous sign for the hosts ahead of Friday's second game in Rajkot.
He looked on from ball one and played with complete freedom through the offside as punished anything that offered enough width.
It even prompted Warner to claim it was the best he had ever seen his long-time partner bat.
"The most pleasing thing for me up the other end was seeing Finchy transfer his weight into the ball very well," Warner said.
"He talks about not doing that as consistent, but that was probably the best that I've ever seen him bat."
Australia Qantas ODI Tour of India 2020
Australia squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey (vc), Pat Cummins (vc), Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Kane Richardson, D'Arcy Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Ashton Turner, David Warner, Adam Zampa
India squad: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami.
First ODI: Australia win by 10 wickets in Mumbai
Second ODI: January 17, Rajkot (D/N) (Fox & Kayo)
Third ODI: January 19, Bengaluru (D/N) (Fox & Kayo)