Finch finds support on eve of Test

Victoria coach Andrew McDonald has defended Test opener Aaron Finch as debate continues over his place at the top of the order on the eve of the second Test.

Finch returned scores of 0 and 11 in the first Domain Test against India in Adelaide as Australia went down by 31 runs, prompting calls for the right-hander to move into the middle order.

The 32-year-old was knocked over by Ishant Sharma on the third ball of Australia's first innings before the Indian quick trapped Finch lbw on the second ball he faced in the second innings.

While replays showed Ishant's front foot was slightly over the front line, earning Finch a reprieve, he was soon removed after opting not to use the DRS.

In the final over before tea on the fourth day, Finch prodded forward to defend a ball from Ravi Ashwin, which bounced up off his pad and was caught Rishabh Pant.

Replays later showed the Real Time Snicko and Hot Spot technology failed to show conclusive proof the ball had brushed the glove, but Finch decided to walk off without going upstairs.

It capped a difficult Test match for the Victorian, who impressed as an opener in his debut Test series against Pakistan in the UAE in October.

McDonald described the criticism of Finch as an "overreaction".

"We're one Test match in and there's a lot of noise around it, so I don't really understand the noise around it," McDonald told Melbourne radio station SEN on Wednesday.

"I think let him play and judge him over a period of time. We're very quick to judge players in that environment, he would have been nervous and he's got to settle into Test cricket in Australia.

"It wasn't that long ago where we were talking him up how well he did in the UAE as Test opener, so I'd like to judge him after a few more (Tests) to be honest and then make a really educated comment around that.

"At the moment it's a little bit of an overreaction on the back of a couple of innings."

Australia great Ricky Ponting, who backed the decision to open with Finch in the UAE, questioned if he was a long-term option at Test level.

Finch has not opened for Victoria in Sheffield Shield since 2013-14 and has established himself as a consistent performer in the middle order.

"I think this problem has been created by picking him to open in the UAE," Ponting told cricket.com.au after Finch was dismissed without scoring in the first innings in Adelaide.

"It's the easiest place in the world to be an opening batsman over there, as we know. And he did reasonably well over there which meant … they had to pick him to open the batting coming back here.

"What was the long-term objective to open the batting with him over there?

"Everyone knows he struggles a little bit against moving red ball and we have a series here and an Ashes series not too far away, and the ball's going to move around a lot when we're over in England."

McDonald said Finch deserved the opportunity to establish himself as a Test opener.

A proven player in the white-ball formats, he has a career average of 35.93 from 81 first-class matches and has made seven centuries.

"We've expressed it in the past where we think Aaron is best suited in our team for Victoria, and that doesn't mean within the Australian set up he's not suited somewhere else and fit in with what Justin Langer is trying to achieve with that batting order," McDonald said.

"They'll be talking about that, everything will make sense to them behind the scenes as to the way they want to structure up and play.

"Most players are flexible enough to bat in many different positions.

"Is he a Test opener? I think that will play out in time if we give him a few Test matches to settle into that position.

"Then we'll be able to judge him on the performances on the back of that." 

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