Aaron Finch questions Team India's strategy for deciding the playing XI for the upcoming matches

After India lost to Australia by four wickets in the second T20 International at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, former Australia captain Aaron Finch offered his thoughts on the composition of the playing eleven. He said he would be shocked if left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh wasn't included in the starting eleven for Sunday's third match in Hobart.

Finch has questioned the team's selection after the big loss. He suggested that head coach Gautam Gambhir may have overloaded the team with batsmen at the expense of bowling balance.

After a top-order collapse brought on by Josh Hazlewood's outstanding 3–13 performance, which left them four down in the powerplay, India, batting first, struggled. Abhishek Sharma put up a valiant 68, but India was unable to recover and were dismissed for 125 in 18.4 overs. Australia took a 1-0 lead in the five-match series after chasing the aim with 40 balls remaining.

“Arshdeep Singh should be in the team. I would be very surprised if he doesn’t make it back for the next game,” Finch said. “One thing I’ve learned about T20 cricket — when you go in with too many batters, sometimes the responsibility gets diluted.”

Finch went on to explain that giving the team too many batting alternatives may affect their mental health.

“Batters subconsciously assume someone else will get the job done. But if you play one fewer batter, it’s amazing how often the rest step up. India clearly has the World Cup in mind, and this series is part of that process of finding the right combinations to win that tournament,” said Finch on JioStar.

A few more runs on board would have made things simpler, he added in his evaluation of India's bowling performance in the second Twenty20 International. “The first over that Bumrah bowled was really good and gave the Australian openers some headaches. But after that, Harshit Rana went for a bit of punishment, Travis Head did most of the damage early on, and then Mitchell Marsh joined in later.”

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