"They'd be ready from game one....": Finch on 'Ro-Ko's return in Australia tour

Perth [Australia], October 18 (ANI): Former Australian captain Aaron Finch said that ex-Indian captain Rohit Sharma would still be a part of the leadership group of the Indian ODI side to help newly-appointed captain Shubman Gill and expressed optimism that Rohit and Virat would be "ready from game one" during the tour to Australia.

The first ODI of the three-match series against Australia will start at Perth from Sunday, marking the return of Rohit and Virat in Indian colours for the first time since the ICC Champions Trophy win back in March this year.

Speaking during the Media Day ahead of the match, JioStar expert Finch said on 'Ro-Ko's return that they are always in a competitive mood and would be ready from game one. He also said that he is sure neither of them has left anything to chance in their preparation.

"I think if you are talking about players who have played for five years, you might have question marks about their tempo and everything. But these are two great players of the game. What experience allows you to do is understand what you need to do to get ready for that first ball of the series. When you look back over history, and I use this analogy particularly with young players who play only T20 cricket and franchise cricket around the world, they hop from tournament to tournament without having much time to work on or improve their game," said Finch.

"They are always in competition mode, day after day. So, the fact that Virat and Rohit are mentally fresh is more important than anything they're doing in the nets. They have got 20 years of experience to fall back on, to say, right, this is what I need to do. And regardless of performance, you know they are going to be ready from game one. We play a brutal game where preparation doesn't always match up with results. But they'll be up to tempo and ready to go from game one, no doubt. That's what experience gives you, the ability to understand every part of your game so well that you know exactly what needs to be done. And I'm sure neither of them has left anything to chance in their preparation for this series," he added.

Finch, a T20 World Cup-winning skipper himself, lauded Rohit's approach of "willingness to sacrifice for the team", calling it the "greatest strength a leader can have".

"He's such a great player. But the fact that he said, no, I am going to lead from the front, that the game has changed to a point where I need to dominate and maximize the first 10 overs, the powerplay, shows great leadership and strength. I have got no doubt that would not change one bit. What you earn over your career as a great player is the right to dictate how you play. Of course, there comes a time when the team might want to shape that, and that's fine. He will adapt, no doubt," said Finch.

"But his ability to sacrifice himself for the betterment of the team, and for what he believed Indian cricket needed at the time, was wonderful to see. That is why he is such a selfless leader, and I'm sure that will continue. I know he will still be part of the leadership group, helping guide Shubman through his first 12 months. But yeah, I expect no difference from Rohit. And it's great to see! It's like when Travis Head walks out to bat for Australia. You just cannot turn the TV off because you know something exciting is about to happen," he added.

India Squad: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill (c), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul (w), Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Dhruv Jurel, Prasidh Krishna. (ANI)

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