IPL 2021: 3 teams that might target Aaron Finch at the auction

IPL 2021: 3 teams that might target Aaron Finch at the auction
Aaron Finch

Australian limited-overs skipper Aaron Finch is among the most explosive batsmen in world cricket. The opening batsman has terrorized bowlers and cut loose in the Powerplay for his sides more often than not. He was in sparkling form for Australia in the recently concluded limited-overs series against India as well. However, in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Finch hasn’t been able to live up to his potential.

The 34-year-old holds the record for having played for the most amount of franchises in the IPL – 8. He has seldom been retained by his franchises and that was the case in 2020 as well. Finch played for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for whom he wasn’t in the best of touches, scoring just 268 runs from 12 matches. He was subsequently released and will now go into the auction pool where a lot of franchises might eye him.

Here are 3 franchises who could go for Aaron Finch in the auction.

Chennai Super Kings

Aaron Finch would fit seamlessly into the yellow of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) like he does with Australia. CSK is one of two current franchises (along with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)) for whom Finch has never appeared. The Australian could be the perfect replacement for the retired Shane Watson.

Finch and Ruturaj Gaikwad can make for a fire and ice opening pair and can be followed by the likes of Suresh Raina, Faf du Plessis, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran to cap off what would be a dangerous batting line-up. It seems very likely that CSK will go for an overseas batter and it might as well be Finch.

Kolkata Knight Riders

Yet another franchise for whom Finch surprisingly hasn’t appeared, Kolkata Knight Rider (KKR) could greatly benefit from the Aussie’s acquisition if it happens. The franchise struggled with their opening combination throughout the tournament in 2020 as they tried out various options before settling for the Indian pairing of Rahul Tripathi and Shubman Gill which didn’t particularly work well.

Finch could be a valuable addition to the top order and form a formidable partnership with Gill to ensure the scoreboard keeps ticking in the Powerplay. The likes of Rahul Tripathi and Sunil Narine could be rotated around the order as pinch-hitters while Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan and Dinesh Karthik would make for a solid middle-order.

Rajasthan Royals

With the positions of the three Englishmen in the picture – Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes assured in the Rajasthan Royals (RR) side, the franchise would be on the lookout for a batter to replace Steve Smith who was surprisingly released from the side. Finch could slot in as a replacement here and open the innings along with either Stokes or Buttler depending on the franchise’s decision, now that Robin Uthappa has been traded to CSK.

An opening pair of Finch and Stokes followed by skipper Sanju Samson, Buttler and the new-age finishing duo of Riyan Parag and Rahul Tewatia, RR could be in good stead to come up with a statement in the 2021 IPL and finally get their hands on the trophy which has been eluding them since they won it in 2008.

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