Australia captain Aaron Finch showers praises over David Warner after T20 World Cup triumph

Australia, on Sunday, won their first T20 World Cup by defeating New Zealand by eight wickets in the final at the Dubai International Stadium. After the historic triumph, Aussie skipper Aaron Finch praised Player of the tournament David Warner saying, writing him off at the start of the tournament was like “poking the bear”. 

Warner finished the T20 World Cup 2021 with 289 runs. He performance came after he was stripped of captaincy and then benched by the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL. After missing his half-century by a run against Pakistan in the semi-finals, the opener went on to score a 38-ball-53 in the final to set the foundation of a 173-run chase. He along with Player of the match Mitchell (77 off 50 balls) added 92 runs in the middle. 

Also read: ‘It’s beautiful, this team’: What Australians said about their maiden T20 Cup title

“I can’t believe people wrote him off a couple of weeks ago. It was almost like poking the bear,” Finch said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

“This is huge, to be the first Australia team to do it. So proud of how the guys went about the campaign.”

He also praised leg-spinner Adam Zampa, who finished the tournament with 13 wickets. 

Also read: Australia coach Justin Langer lauds Mitchell Marsh, Adam Zampa post T20 World Cup win

“[Zampa] is ‘Player of the tournament’ for me. He controlled the game, got big wickets, super player. Mitch Marsh, what a way to start, put pressure on from the start. Matt Wade came in under an injury cloud and got the job done. He came in in the semi-final alongside Marcus Stoinis and did the business.”

Asked if Bangladesh game was the turning point, Finch replied,”Certainly it was. Our backs were against the wall. We had to fight and certainly did that, had some great team and individual performances.” Former skipper Steve Smith also echoed his current captain’s sentiment about Warner.

“Warner’s last two weeks have been amazing. A lot of people were writing him off. He came in with exceptional intent and took the game away at the start.” For Warner, it was always about being pumped up but at the same time going back to his basics.

Also read: Kane Williamson hits fastest 50 in men’s T20 World Cup final

“I always felt good, for me it was about going back to basics, getting on some hard, synthetic wickets in order to hit volumes of balls.

“(This tournament is) definitely up there with 2015 (World Cup). Losing to England a decade ago really hurt. These are a great bunch of guys, great support staff, and great support around the world, especially back home.

“Always pumped, wanted to put on a spectacle. There were some nerves around as always in a final but great to see the guys deliver.” Man of the match Marsh was over the moon and thanked the coaching staff which had told him that he will bat at number three in the tournament.

“I don’t really have words, what an amazing six weeks with this group. Love them to death. World champs. The coaching staff came up to me in the West Indies and said you’re going to bat three for this tournament, and I jumped at it.

“Have the staff to thank for backing me and getting me up the top there.”