Recharged Finch carries home truths from tough season into World Cup

Finch finished the tour of UAE, where he led Australia to a 5-0 sweep of Pakistan, with 451 runs in five one-day internationals at an average of 112.75. But before that, in 11 ODI innings across series against South Africa (home) and India (home and away), he crossed 30 just three times, with just one half-century. He also had a string of single-digit scores in Twenty20 Internationals and lost his place in the Test side after the Indian bowlers found him out.

Opening up about his mental state when the chips were down, the skipper admitted to feeling frustration and doubting if he'd even make it to the World Cup squad. Thinking of the tradition of Australian greats who had previously led the side to success did little to assuage his fears.

"[There was ] huge anxiety," he said in a chat with SEN radio. "Based on the World Cup coming up, at being the captain of the side and not leading from the front ... I was getting really frustrated that I was preparing and doing everything that I thought I could to succeed, and it just wasn't happening.

"I was starting to think negatively. You walk out to bat and you see [India's Jasprit] Bumrah at the top of his mark and you think, 'here we go again' ... In the back of your mind you're thinking the World Cup is not far away and as a captain I could be left out of the World Cup squad. Then you start putting unrealistic pressure on yourself."

His struggles affected his captaincy, he added. "[In] a rough patch, it can be tough to commit to your leadership. You're trying to talk to the boys about game plans, where [they] need to improve, but I've not been doing my own job as well as I could have. There were times when I'd think, 'I'm in no position to be criticising people about their game when I'm not doing well myself'."

Finch insisted there wasn't anything he did too differently as he made his way back into the runs. The turnaround comes at a fortuitous time for Australia, allowing the defending champions to go into the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019 in England and Wales high on confidence after series wins in India and UAE. For the captain himself, it was a much-needed boost.

"It reassured me that I'm a pretty good player. You don't lose your skill overnight," Finch said . "Nothing had really changed ... I was able to spark something. I went to a more positive spin."

A break of a few weeks before the team get together for World Cup training was also vital in recharging the batteries and keeping alive the passion, he felt. He has spoken before about how playing Test cricket as well gave him new perspective and new respect for players turning out in all formats.

"It's just physically impossible to be on for that amount of time, without any down time, without time to go home and lay on the couch and spend time with your family and go to a favourite restaurant," Finch explained.

And he felt David Warner, his prospective opening partner, too, had benefitted from forced time away from the game. "He's come back with a huge hunger, to come back and dominate international cricket again," Finch said of Warner. "When you have your dream taken away from you, I imagine there'd be something deep inside that burns strongly. He's a super player, we know how strong he can be ... [It's important to] embrace him back into the culture."