Former Australia captain Aaron Finch has hit out at Marcus Stoinis for his sudden retirement from ODIs and questioned the timing of the decision and its impact on the team. Stoinis, who was initially named in Australia’s squad for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, announced his retirement from the format last week, forcing selectors to scramble for a replacement. Speaking on ESPN Australia’s Around The Wicket podcast, Finch expressed his disappointment over the lack of prior communication from Stoinis to the team management. He believes the all-rounder should have given coach Andrew McDonald and captain Steve Smith a heads-up before being selected in the squad.

“When you’ve had the faith put in you by the selection, the coach, and the captain—maybe a little bit more of a heads-up? Saying, ‘You know, this is what I am thinking.’ I would be surprised if it was an off-the-cuff decision as well. I’m sure there would have been planning down the track, and conversations between Andrew McDonald and Marcus Stoinis to try to get to the decision,” Finch said.

The all-rounder was part of Australia’s white-ball series against Pakistan, followed by the Big Bash League and then the SA20 in South Africa. With the IPL scheduled immediately after the Champions Trophy, Finch believes the prospect of being on the road for nearly five months might have contributed to Stoinis stepping away from ODIs.

“At the end of the day, each player has the opportunity to decide what their fate is going forward. If you look at Marcus Stoinis over the last couple of years, he’s preferred to play the T20 route. Being in Pakistan, then straight to India after a summer of cricket at home—that can potentially be four-five months on the road. Maybe that contributed to the decision,” Finch added.

Following Stoinis’ withdrawal, Australia named all-rounder Aaron Hardie as his replacement while finalising their 15-member squad on Wednesday.

–IANS

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Virat Kohli‘s tour of Australia did not go as per plan. While it started off brilliantly with a superb century at Perth, it ended on a sour note, full of controversy and doubts surrounding his form. In the fourth Test in Melbourne, Kohli got embroiled in a shoulder clash with Australia’s teenage debutant Sam Konstas, leading him to be fined 20 per cent of his match fees. Kohli also teased the Sydney crowd during the fifth Test with a ‘sandpaper’ reference. Speaking on these issues, former Australia cricketer Simon Katich – once the head coach of Kohli at Indian Premier League franchise (IPL) Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) – stated that Kohli had tarnished his reputation.

“There’s no doubt he (Kohli) has been a modern great of the game in all formats. But I think you have to question what sort of headspace he’s been in on this tour to be doing that, making physical contact in Melbourne and then even the other unsavoury incident in Sydney with the sandpaper reference there with the pockets,” Katich said on ESPN Australia’s Around The Wicket show.

“I mean that in itself – there was no need for that. It’s old news so in a way I think he’s tarnished his reputation somewhat on this tour, on and off the field,” Katich added.

Aaron Finch, who played with Kohli and under Katich at RCB in 2020, added to the sentiment.

“It was just a level of frustration. I said last week it seemed as though he wanted to find conflict and confrontation – that’s where he generally plays his best cricket. So he just went overboard on this tour. The bump (with Konstas), that was above and beyond anything I’ve seen on a field, and then the sandpaper, unnecessary. Overall, I think he was trying to find something to ignite a fire in himself, but just wasn’t up to it.,” Finch said.

Kohli scored just 190 runs in nine innings in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25, repeatedly getting out to deliveries outside the off-stump.

Former Australian cricketer Aaron Finch said that star India batter Virat Kohli is trying to “pick up a fight” and is “trying to be antagonistic” because that is when he plays at his best and puts all his skills on the show. Virat has been a constant fixture in the media during this Border-Gavaskar Trophy, both due to his poor performances with the bat, which have seen him score just 167 runs across four Tests at an average of 27.83 with just a century to his name, and his physical altercation with young Aussie batter Sam Konstas, which cost the veteran his 20 per cent match fee and invited the anger of Australian media.

Speaking on ESPN’s Around the Wicket podcast, Finch said, “Virat is someone who has always thrived on pressure and he has thrived when his back is against the wall. It just feels like at this stage, he is trying to put his own back against the wall. He is trying to be antagonistic, he is trying to almost pick a fight because that is when he plays when he feels like someone’s coming at him. That is when he puts all his skills on show.”

“It just feels like he is pushing other people to make him feel like that and we have not seen the best of him in this series yet. He looked beautiful in the first innings at Melbourne and looked like he was not going to get out but Australia have bowled well,” he added.

This year, Virat has scored 417 runs at an average of just 24.52, with barely one century and fifty in 19 innings. His best score is 100*.

The decade of 2020s has been a difficult one for Virat the Test batter. In 38 Tests since the start of this decade, Virat has made 2,005 runs at an average of 31.32, with just three centuries and nine fifties to his name and best score of 186.

In the ongoing ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 cycle, Virat has made 728 runs in 23 innings in 13 Tests at an average of 34.66, with two tons and three fifties in 23 innings and best score of 121.

However, in this series, Virat will get one more chance at redeeming himself in the fifth and final Test at Sydney, starting from January 3 onwards.

After the India vs New Zealand series at home results in a 3-0 loss for Rohit Sharma and co.’s men, the Border Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, starting on November 22, holds extra significance for the side. India need to beat Australia in at least four Tests in the five-match series to qualify for the World Test Championship final without depending on other teams’ results. In the midst of this several reports claimed that skipper Rohit Sharma might miss the first Test due to a personal reason. 

In response to those reports, Sunil Gavaskar had said that the team should appoint a new captain for the entire series if Rohit is unable to make it to the first couple of Tests.

“We have been reading that Rohit Sharma will not play in the first Test, perhaps he will not play in the second as well. If this is the case, then I say that, right now, the Indian selection committee should say that ‘if you have to rest, rest, if there are personal reasons then look at them. But if you are missing two-thirds of the matches then you should go for this tour only as a player. We will make the vice-captain the captain of this tour’,” Gavaskar had told Sports Tak.

“Indian cricket is the most important. I would say that if we had won the New Zealand series 3-0, it would have been a different matter. Because we have lost this series 3-0, there is a need for a captain. The captain has to unite the team. If there is no captain in the beginning, it is better to make someone else the captain,” Gavaskar had further added.

However, former Australia Finch disagreed with Gavaskar’s opinion.

“I disagree with Sunny on that totally. Rohit Sharma is the captain of the Indian cricket team. If you need to stay at home because your wife is having a baby… that’s such a beautiful moment… and you take all the time that you need in that regard,” Finch told ESPNcricinfo. 

Now, Rohit Sharma’s wife Ritika Sajdeh has appreciated Finch’s stance. She reacted with a ‘salute’ emoji tagging Aaron Finch on an Instagram post highlighting both Gavsakar and Finch’s comment. 

Former Australian cricket team captain Tim Paine expressed his concern for Team India ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024 and even served them a warning concerning star batter Virat Kohli. India are one of the firm favourites ahead of the competition but Paine believes that the campaign will depend heavily on how Kohli ends up performing.  Paine, in conversation with fellow countrymen Aaron Finch and Michael Clarke on the ‘Around the Wicket’ podcast, compared Kohli to Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell and said that if the India star fails to perform, Rohit and Co will not be able to win the title.

“I can’t see India winning the World Cup unless Virat Kohli has a really strong World Cup – bit similar to Glenn Maxwell’s form. I know he hasn’t been red-hot as of late but I can’t see Australia winning the World Cup unless Maxwell has a blinder,” Paine said on the podcast.

Recently, Kohli opened up about his retirement plans.

“I think as a sportsman, we do have an end-date to our careers. So I am just working backwards. I don’t want to finish my career thinking ‘oh, what if I have done this on that particular day’ because I can’t keep going on and on forever. So it’s just about not leaving any undone business behind and not have any regrets later, which I am sure I won’t,” said Kohli at RCB’s Royal Gala Dinner.

“Once I am done, I will be gone, you won’t see me for a while (smiles). So I want to give it everything I have till the time I play, and that’s the only thing that keeps me going,” he added.

Kohli is currently the run-scorer in the ongoing IPL 2024 and will be looking to guide Royal Challengers Bengaluru to the playoff with a win over five-time champions Chennai Super Kings.