Australia's limited-overs captain Aaron Finch has put the onus on his players on the upcoming tours of West Indies and Bangladesh to put in performances worthy of selection for the T20 World Cup, scheduled in October-November this year, reports Cricbuzz.
Australia head to West Indies for five T20s and three ODIs, starting on July 09. They are then set to play five T20s in Bangladesh in early August
"It'll give the guys on this tour an opportunity to almost take their [World Cup] spots, I guess," Finch said on Friday.
"I think the great thing about Australian cricket at the moment is that the guys that are performing really well in BBL and domestic cricket, are the ones that are getting the opportunities."
Earlier this month, Australia made six new additions to the 23-man preliminary squad for the West Indies tour - rewarding some of their domestic performers, while also adding a new face in fast bowler Wes Agar.
"Playing cricket for Australia and doing well is the ultimate, in my opinion. So for guys to be on this tour to get the first opportunity to put their hand up and take that spot is what it's about. It's tough to ignore really good international performances," Finch said of what was in store for the revamped squad.
"You have to go on current form. These conditions will be very similar to what we face in the T20 World Cup I imagine - especially St Lucia being used quite a lot and then Bangladesh being quite similar to India or UAE, wherever that lands."
Finch also reckoned the make-up of Australia's core for the showpiece event could look a lot different than before, as they have to now account for the difference in conditions. Before the coronavirus pandemic hit, the T20 World Cup was scheduled to be played in Australia last year. But since then, it has been moved out and is likely to be held in India or UAE.
"It [team combinations] could change a lot," Finch said. "That was based on the World Cup being in Australia and I thought our side in the lead-up to the original World Cup meant to be held here was really settled. You have to keep restructuring your side to gather more information. The more the wickets change and the more they go away from our traditional Australian wickets, the more we have to keep learning."
Australia have their focus trained on the T20 World Cup, the one title that has eluded their otherwise packed trophy cabinet over the years. Finch admitted it was a title his team 'dreamed of', and with back-to-back tournaments coming up, time could be ripe to break that duck.
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