Australia T20 skipper Aaron Finch has said every experiment his side does from here on, starting with the three-match series against India beginning in Mohali on Tuesday, will be towards ensuring the Kangaroos retain the T20 World Cup at home.
Finch also added that batting stalwart and former captain Steve Smith will bat at No.3, despite the 33-year-old having played just once in the last 12 matches in that position over a two-year period. The move, Finch said, has been necessitated owing to the absence of Mitchell Marsh in the side due to an injury.
"Everything that we're doing in the T20 space ties back into the World Cup," says Finch, who was also the captain when Australia won their maiden T20 World Cup title in the UAE last year.On trying out Smith at No 3, Finch was quoted by ESPNcricinfo on Monday as saying, "Most likely he'll bat at three in this series with Mitch Marsh being out.
We know the quality that Steve's got. He's one of the best players that have ever played the game over all formats of the game. So, we know the skill that he's got and the game sense and the tactical nous that he's got.
"So we're really confident that regardless of what role he has to play within the structure of the squad, that he can do that very, very well. There'll be a little bit of mixing and matching, but still with that one eye towards the World Cup, to make sure that we're still as rounded as we can be as a squad," said Finch, 35, who retired from ODI cricket recently due to poor form.
Australia will be missing Marsh, David Warner and Marcus Stoinis for the series against India, while Mitchell Starc is nursing a niggle. The Kangaroos might have to find different combinations and experiment quite a bit, given that they have just nine games to tune up their side ahead of the showpiece event at home next month.
"What we've tried to do over the last sort of 6-8-10 months is make sure that everything that we're doing in the T20 space ties back into the World Cup and, for us, it's about making sure that once we get there that we've had plenty of different combinations of teams that we can play.
"Because the last thing you want to do is have an injury derail your whole campaign because you're pigeon-holed into playing one style of cricket or one structure of team. So there'll be a little bit of mixing and matching, but still with that one eye towards the World Cup, to make sure that we're still as rounded as we can be as a squad," he added.