Former Australia captain named the best bowler in white-ball cricket he had faced as a batter. During his vast international and franchise cricket career, Finch had faced multiple top-class bowlers. So, naming the best bowler was not easy for him. But, as per the rule of the video, he had to crown one of the top bowlers with the number one spot.
Finch made his Australia National Cricket Team debut in 2011, and his last international match for Australia was a T20 International (T20I) against Ireland during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup on October 31, 2022. During this period, he had to face several quality fast bowlers across the globe.
Who is the best pacer in limited-overs cricket, according to Aaron Finch?
The 39-year-old is now a retired cricketer, working as a cricket pundit and commentator, and is carrying a bag full of experience, which helped the video to shape competitively. The video, shared by ESPNCricinfo, contains stars like Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mark Wood, Kagiso Rabada, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Chris Woakes, Jofra Archer, Tim Southee, Jason Holder, Trent Boult, Stuart Broad, and Mohammad Amir.
The video starts with a comparison between Mohammed Shami and an England pacer. Shami got eliminated from the competition when the questioner mentioned South African pacer Kagiso Rabada’s name. Kagiso Rabada remained in the competition for a long time, overcoming the hurdles of Shami, Pakistan’s Shaheen Afridi, and Haris Rauf.
But he had to go outside the contention as Aaron Finch preferred to vote for England’s Chris Woakes. Chris Woakes is another pacer in the video, who remains for a long time in the discussion. The former Australian batter kept the English pacer over Rabada, New Zealand’s Tim Southee, West Indies’ Jason Holder, and another Englishman, Jofra Archer.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah ruled out
It is the Indian swing master Bhuvneshwar Kumar who overruled the Protea seamer. Kumar did not last long in the debate as Finch put New Zealand pacer Trent Boult ahead of him. After sustaining a few sets of comparisons, Aaron Finch ruled out the Kiwi pacer, and he preferred to say ‘Dale Steyn’.
Indian pacer spearhead Jasprit Bumrah is also in the discussion. But he is not the bowler who captured the number one spot. It is Dale Steyn who concluded the list as the number 1 bowler in the eyes of Aaron Finch.
Aaron Finch’s ratings on the pacer he had faced in the limited-overs format:
Mohamed Shami or Mark Wood? Mohamed Shami.
Mohammed Shami or Kagiso Rabada? Kagiso Rabada.
Kagiso Rabada or Shaheen Afridi? Rabada.
Rabada or Haris Rauf? Rabada.
Rabada or Chris Woakes? Chris Wokes.
Chris Wokes or Tim Sauthee? Wokes.
Wokes or Jason Holder? Chris Wokes.
Wokes or Jofra Archer? (0:33) Chris Wokes.
Wokes or Bhuvneshwar Kumar? Bhuvi.
Bhuvi or Trent Boult? Oh, tough one. Trent Boult.
Boult or Stuart Broad? Didn’t play much against Broad. So, Boult.
Boult or Mohamad Amir? Boult.
Boult or Dale Steyn? Dale Steyn.
And finally, Dale Steyn or Jasprit Bumrah? Dale Steyn.