Allrounders impress Finch as Aussies firm for sole change

Australia look set to make just one change to their XI for the first Dettol ODI Series clash against India as captain Aaron Finch praised the bowling of allrounders Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis.

Coach Justin Langer said on Wednesday Australia's selectors were leaning towards the sole change, with Steve Smith coming in for the injured Mitch Marsh, but were weighing up playing an extra allrounder.

While Finch says having another bowling option who bats in the top seven is handy, he suggested the quality of overs is what matters rather than picking allrounders "for the sake of it".

If Australia decide to go with the two allrounders to support an expected four-prong bowling attack of Mitch Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Adam Zampa, it means Maxwell and Stoinis will shoulder the bulk of the remaining overs.

Fortunately the pair bowled regularly throughout the Indian Premier League and their progress bowling with the white-ball has impressed Finch. 

"What Maxi's shown in T20 cricket in particular is his bowling keeps improving all the time," Finch said today.

"I think Marcus Stoinis has proved that as well with the amount of exposure he's had over the past couple of years bowling at the death, it's really important for us and it gives us a lot of flexibility in there.

"In England we had the three allrounders with Mitch (Marsh) so you can dissect the 10 overs a little bit easier, I guess.

"You're still expecting when that fifth bowler is, or the combination of allrounders are, bowling that minimum 10 overs that they're still having an impact on the game.

"It's not about picking allrounders just for the sake of it, it's also a key bowling spot as well."

Australia are in rich supply of all-round talent, with Moises Henriques and Cameron Green the other seam-bowling allrounders in the squad, while spinner Ashton Agar has batted in the top seven before.

The hosts will need all their bowlers to be at the top of their game to take on a formidable Indian team led by captain Virat Kohli.

Considered one of the best one-day players ever, Kohli averages close to 60 in all ODIs and 50 in 50-over matches in Australia.

Having spent the IPL playing alongside Kohli at Royal Challengers Bangalore, Finch has been better placed than most to look for a chink in his counterpart's armour.

Sadly for Finch he couldn't find too many, but that doesn't mean his charges don't have a plan for Kohli.

"If you look at his record it's second to none," said Finch. "It really is remarkable.

"I think what we have to keep in mind is that we have to keep looking to get him out.

"When you go away from that and you look to contain players you can miss a trick there.

"There's not too many chinks in his armour.

"He's probably the best one-day player of all time so it's about sticking to our plans and being really committed in that regard."

Finch had a lean IPL season, scoring one half-century in 11 innings with a strike rate of 111, 31 short of his career T20 strike rate.

The right-hander has been working with Australia assistant coach Andrew McDonald during their 14-day quarantine in Sydney's west ahead of the three-match ODI series which is followed by three T20s starting in Canberra on December 2.

While the changes haven’t been drastic, Finch says it’s hard to get out of a rut when playing lots of T20s in quick sucession.

"T20 can be really difficult when you're not quite at your very best," he explained.

"When you're trying to be really aggressive at the start of an innings (and) take risks early in the game at a time when it's not going 100 per cent, you can get in a pretty bad run quite quickly.

"It's just a few balance things, head position in my stance and small things like that I can sometimes forget about when you're just focusing on T20.

"You tend to get a little bit one-paced with your training, almost focused on power hitting rather than a few minor technical things that can help you out.

"It hasn't been anything huge, it's a just a few steps I generally go to when things haven't been as smooth as I would have liked."

Dettol ODI Series v India 2020

Australia ODI squad: Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey , Pat Cummins (vc), Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Daniel Sams, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa

India ODI squad: Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Mayank Agarwal, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur.

First ODI: November 27, SCG, 2.40pm AEDT

Second ODI: November 29, SCG, 2.40pm AEDT

Third ODI: December 2, Manuka Oval, 2.40pm AEDT

*The matches and travel remain subject to any relevant government restrictions or requirements