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Langer hopeful despite Finch injury

Australia opener sent for X-rays after blow from India quick Mohammed Shami just before tea on third day

Australia are confident Aaron Finch will be able to resume his innings on Monday after he suffered a finger injury on day three of the second Domain Test against India.

Finch retired hurt just before the tea break on Sunday and was sent for an X-ray after he was struck on the glove by Indian quick Mohammad Shami.

Australia coach Justin Langer confirmed at the end of play that Finch had not fractured his finger and he hopes the opener will be able to bat during Australia's second innings.

"It's not fractured, which is really positive for us," Langer told SEN.

"He was playing so well. It's nice to have Finchy being able to bat, hopefully, in the second dig. Every run here is very important."

Finch was smacked on the gloves by a short ball from Shami in the 13th over with Australia 0-33, leading India by 76 having bowled the visitors out for 283 after lunch.

The right-hander threw off his right glove and immediately called for the team physio, who inspected the right index finger of Finch.

Image Id: 5AE07BFDC67A4A9D9FF7956803368DB8 Image Caption: Finch's right index finger appears split // Fox Cricket

It's the same finger that has been peppered at practice this summer, first at the centre of the WACA Ground on the eve of the first Gillette Series ODI against South Africa and then again in the Adelaide Oval nets in the lead-up to the first Domain Test. On both occasions tearaway quick Mitch Starc was the bowler.

Finch could barely keep his feet as he felt the pain of the blow, leaving the field alongside the medical staff as the umpires called for the tea break. 


The blow came just as Finch was finding fluency at the crease.

The Victorian had struck five fours in 30 balls to race to 25 and build Australia's lead as the hosts look to level the series after defeat in Adelaide.

Flashback: Finch struck by Starc, November 2

In the first innings, Finch posted his maiden Test half-century on home soil having worked with coach Justin Langer and Test legend Ricky Ponting in the wake of twin failures at Adelaide Oval.

Ponting told cricket.com.au on Friday the improvements Finch has made in such a short time has him believing the 31-year-old has a bright future in Test cricket.

"What it showed today to everybody, and more importantly to himself, is that he has got a game that can stand up opening the batting at Test level," Ponting told cricket.com.au.

Ponting tips bright future for Finch

"He's been working hard on a few things over the last few weeks and I know Justin Langer did a lot of really good stuff with him in Adelaide on the night the game (first Test) finished, a few balance things and few things to take the weight out of his front leg and not fall so much across his stumps," Ponting said.

"He had a few moments today where he did that a little bit but in general I thought he played really well.

"He looked to be aggressive, play the ball of the back foot, which is a really good sign for him, which means he's not getting onto the front foot too early.

Finch finds boundary with well-timed drive

"When you do go on the front foot too early you struggle to play back and miss out on a lot of scoring opportunities.

"He'd be disappointed to get out the way he got out after being 50 and batting a long period of time then missing a full, straight one." 

Australia XI: Aaron Finch, Marcus Harris, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Tim Paine (c), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.

India XI: KL Rahul, M Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav.

Domain Test Series v India

Dec 6-10: First Test, Adelaide Oval, India won by 31 runs

Dec 14-18: Second Test, Perth Stadium

Dec 26-30: Third Test, MCG

Jan 3-7: Fourth Test, SCG

Australia squad: Tim Paine (c, wk), Josh Hazlewood (vc), Mitch Marsh (vc), Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Chris Tremain

India squad: Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant (wk), Parthiv Patel (wk), Ravi Ashwin, Ravi Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar