'Smith, the best batsman in the world'

Aaron Finch has been on a roll as captain. He has presided over 10 Australia’s ODI wins on the bounce and is confident of scalping India here at The Oval on Sunday. Finch felt the 3-2 series win over Virat Kohli’s men in India would stand Australia in good stead. The right-hander also hailed Steve Smith as the best batsman in the world. Excerpts.

On Steve Smith and David Warner:

When you've got world-class players coming back into your side, it's unfortunate for the guys who have missed out and the guys that have played some really good one-day cricket in the past. But Steve is the best batter in the world in my opinion over all three forms of the game. I think that when you have David who's so destructive at the top of the order, his record shows how destructive he is. To have them to come back, yes, it's great for the side and our batting lineup. Great help for me as a leader, as well, in terms of tactics and stuff out on the field.

On the match-up between Australian pacers and the Indian pacers:

Well, I think it's not just the pace bowling. Obviously, both sides have had a bit of success with their spinners in the past couple of months in particular, so what it comes down to is execution. Whether India play the two plus the all-rounder or go with an extra quick bowler, we're not sure. When you look at Bumrah, Bhuvi, Shami, Hardik, they're world-class bowlers, and then you have got Starc, Cummins, Coulter-Nile, Behrendorff, Richardson. There are so many options there. But I think it's just going to come down to early wickets. I think that's going to be a real key.

On deriving confidence from win over India:

Yeah, I think winning the last three games is really important for us in India; to get some self-belief that we can beat this Indian side in their home conditions. For that, I think when you look back, it comes down to taking the key moments in games and making sure that no matter what situation of the game or the series or the tournament, whenever you're playing India, you have to believe that you can beat them because they're a world-class side. They've got some all-time great players, no doubt about that. So, to be able to beat them in their home conditions three times in a row was really important for the confidence of the side, especially going into a game like this.

On the fightback against West Indies:

I think it was really important, especially in the context of the competition. I think when you're in a tournament play, I think winning the close ones, especially early in the tournament is really important, to keep the momentum going. But as you know, the weather could play a part at some point in this tournament, so to be able to get two points where we didn't play our best cricket was really crucial.