Australia’s limited-overs skipper Aaron Finch has played for so many teams in the IPL, that he couldn’t remember the name of the franchise whose jersey he has lost!
Finch, who led Australia to the T20 World Cup last year and was in good form during the BBL, has been roped in by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for IPL 2022 as a replacement for Alex Hales, who had pulled out of this season citing “bubble fatigue and his mental well-being”.
The opener who had gone unsold in the mega-auction now gets a contract from the Knight Riders worth INR 1.5 crore. KKR is now Finch’s ninth IPL team; no other player has played more than 6 IPL franchises.
Recently, in an interview with cricket.con.au, Finch was asked if he had saved all the caps and jerseys of the eight IPL teams he’s represented so far. But, no, the Aussie skipper replied that he has misplaced one of the teams’ jersey, but couldn’t remember which franchise it was!
“Good question. There’s one team I am missing a shirt from but I can’t remember which one,” he replied.
Aaron Finch has played 85 innings in the IPL over the years, scoring 2005 runs at an average of 25.70 and a strike rate of 127.70. He last played in the tournament in 2020, turning up for RCB.
He had started his IPL journey with Rajasthan Royals in 2010. Then he was at Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) before playing one season for the now-defunct Pune Warriors India, followed by stints with Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians.
He played for Gujarat Lions for the 2016 and 2017 seasons, and then for Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in 2018. The Aussie opener didn’t feature in the 2019 IPL, but in 2020, RCB gained his services for 4.4 crore. He went unsold in the IPL 2021 auction and the IPL 2022 mega-auction as well before KKR called him up as Alex Hales’ replacement.
Finch joked about how he and his wife haven’t had their vacation for the past many years as something had come up, but asserted that his wife has always supported his career.
“I was at dinner with my wife and I wrote back to (KKR head coach) Brendon McCullum before I’d flagged it with Amy. Every time we plan a holiday, something has come up. In the last six years – obviously, the two with Covid made it a bit difficult – every time we’ve made a holiday plan something has happened at the last minute. She wasn’t surprised but very supportive. Her and Esther (his daughter) will come over to India at some point,” the opener added.
Aaron Finch won’t be available to play for the first couple of weeks for KKR as he will be leading Australia in white-ball matches in Pakistan.
Kolkata Knight Riders will be @AaronFinch5‘s NINTH IPL team! ??#PAKvAUS | #IPL2022 pic.twitter.com/tJUz7FAa27
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) March 22, 2022
