Tough to beat India: Finch

Aaron Finch is vary of the threat India will be providing

Sydney, March 24 (IANS) Ahead of their World Cup semi-final clash on Thursday, Australia opening batsman Aaron Finch said on Tuesday that India would be a tough hurdle to overcome at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).

"They have probably played a lot more cricket here and got used to the conditions, the length you bowl and stuff like that. There's no rocket science; they are batting and bowling well. India are going to be tough to beat," Finch was quoted as saying by bcci.tv.

The swashbuckling batsman who has so far had a low-key tournament said this will be the biggest game of his life and his team will head into the encounter confident of pulling it off.

"It is obviously the biggest game that I have ever played. It is huge; you can't put it any other way and it is going to be exciting. It is a big opportunity to show our skills as a team," he said.

"We have played some great cricket over the last two years and there is no reason we are not going to go into this game confident. I think we have got every right to be."

The 28-year-old also feels the contest would be an even one, especially with both the teams being in superb form of late.

"India have played beautifully throughout this World Cup and are undefeated so far. They have grown in confidence all through. But when you look at our team, we match up quite well and they match up well against us too.

In terms of psychological stuff, they have been playing well and so have we. It is going to be a great game," Finch said.

Elaborating on India's bowling, the right-handed batsman said, "They have got skilful bowlers. Mohammad Shami is bowling well. He is swinging the ball, which is a huge factor."

Though Finch stressed on India's bowling prowess, he believed his side had the capabilities to negate India's bowling firepower.

"With our side we are confident that we can negate them. They have got some quality spinners but at the same time, wickets are generally pretty true here.

Whatever happens I suppose if we stick to our game plans and play well it goes a long way towards winning the game. It's about being aggressive without being over the top," he added.

About his own form:

“Whenever you don’t get runs, it (pressure) starts to build up, but I feel like I’ve been batting nicely, it’s nice to go back to a couple of checkpoints and make sure that I’m on top of my game and feeling good and hitting the ball nicely,” Finch was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.

“That’s all I can ask and whatever will happen on Thursday will happen — I’m not someone who over-analyses it a helluva lot.”

Voices of dissatisfaction regarding his poor form have risen steadily from several quarters with former Australian captain Ricky Ponting saying that the right-hand batsman’s technical flaws become apparent when he is struggling for runs.

Finch, however, shrugged off Ponting’s view.

“In terms of what Ricky said, I hadn’t heard that but he’s got his own opinions and when you look down our batting list everyone has been playing beautifully and I’m probably the only one who has missed out in the last couple of games.

“But I’m confident going into this game and I’ve got no reason not to be. I’m looking for some big runs,” Finch said.

The right-hander believes he just needs one early shot to get him back his lost touch and feels that innings is not too far away.

“It’s just one of those things – and when you’re not hitting them so well, to get down the other end so Davey (Warner, his opening partner) can take a bit of the strike. Just try and work your way into an innings in a bit of a different way, as opposed to boundaries and trying to score quickly.”

Finch stressed upon his belief that a big knock was just around the corner.

“It’s not far away. I feel great, it might just be that one shot early in your innings that gets you going to make a big one,” he said.