Ready to bat at any spot: Finch

The solidly built Aaron Finch packs a lot of punch when on song. This Indian Premier League, the Gujarat Lions batsman had struggled to land his hefty blows until Thursday night when he exploded big time against a beleaguered Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Sensing his opportunity, the big-hitting Australian, who had been shuffled around the batting order impacting his rhythm, hammered a cracking 39-ball 72 (5x4, 6x6) to not only bulldoze the Challengers single-handedly but also boost the Lions’ and his own confidence.

While he loves to open the batting and pin the opposition down early on with his lusty shots, Finch, who came in at No 4 on Thursday, said he is game to play anywhere as far as it bring success to the team. “I don't mind batting anywhere. I've batted most of my career opening. I played a little bit at No 5 last year and at 5 or 4 this year. But I think today was more of a match up against the opposition. We knew that they'd open with (Samuel) Badree, (Yuzvendra) Chahal has been bowling in the Power Play, and Pawan Negi as well. It was a case of having a left-hander at the top. 

“Brendon McCullum has been in fantastic form and I'm comfortable batting anywhere. But yeah, I do love opening, the field is up more often and it gives you more chances to hit boundaries, but like I said, I'm happy to bat anywhere.”

Despite Lions losing both the openers in quick time, Finch played with his foot always on the pedal, hardly showing any fear whatsoever. The 30-year-old reasoned that it was a conscious decision to go all-out as going slow in a low-scoring run-chase could end up in disaster.

“Sometimes in a small run chase, you can make the mistake of trying to bat slowly and before you know, the run rate is 7, 8, 9 an over. It was a conscious effort from the side to attack the game. Even if something did happen, there was a couple of guys behind myself and (Suresh) Raina -- like (Ravindra) Jadeja, (James) Faulkner and Dinesh Karthik. If something went wrong, we could still pick up the pieces.”

Finch also hailed the team’s bowlers who set up the victory after bowling out RCB for 134. “Anytime you take wickets in the Power Play, it's a huge bonus. It goes a long way in restricting. Today was a pretty polished performance, and we saw young quicks like Nathu (Singh) and Basil (Thampi) really stand up with the new ball.”