(Cricket news) Australia's white ball captain Aaron Finch has announced his retirement from ODI cricket. The 3rd ODI against New Zealand will be his final one in Australian colours but he will continue to lead the side in T20Is. Finch in a statement said “It has been a fantastic ride with some incredible memories. I have been extremely fortunate to be a part of some brilliant one-day sides. Equally, I have been blessed by all those I have played with and the many people behind the scenes. I thank all of those who have helped and supported my journey to this point. It is time now to give a new leader the best possible opportunity to prepare for and win the next World Cup. I thank all of those who have helped and supported my journey to this point."
Finch has been a true legend for Australia over the years. ODI as a format has always been his strength as he was an integral part of the 2015 World Cup winning team. He took over the whiteball captaincy after the sandpaper gate and has done a phenomenal job. He led Australia to the semi finals of the 2019 World Cup and also won the 2021 T20 World Cup. The reason for his retirement is definitely a significant drop in form as he has only scored 27 runs in his last 7 ODIs and he also has 5 ducks in his last 12 innings. It would have been the right time to move on if he was just a player but the fact that he was captain makes it more complicated. A new captain will have only a year to prepare for the World cup while the management will also have to find an apt replacement for Finch as an opener.
The next step would be to find a new ODI captain. It is very likely that Finch will not remain T20 captain after the World Cup next month and the whiteball team will have one captain. Alex Carey has been vice captain of the ODI team from time to time and he has been captain as well in Finch's absence. He could be the next in line but he doesn't have a lot of experience. Test captain Pat Cummins could be an option but his workload management will become very tricky. Steve Smith could also be the captain as his leadership ban has been lifted. He has been ODI captain before and is also the current Test vice-captain.
David Warner's leadership ban hasn't been lifted but there are a lot of talks that it should be. If it is lifted then Warner is a perfect candidate to take over the captaincy. Australia's next ODI series is on 17th November against England so Cricket Australia have a lot of time to think about their next step. Australia's ODI form hasn't been good recently, they need to make some changes and the captaincy might just be the start.
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