London: As Australia and India gear up to lock horns in a World Cup match on June 9, Aussie skipper Aaron Finch on Saturday said that winning the series against the Men in Blue in India was exceptional for their self-confidence.
"Winning three games in India was amazing for our self-confidence. It just comes down to taking key moments in matches. Whenever you play against India, you have to believe you can beat them," Finch told reporters at the pre-match conference.
Finch said that both Australia and India have good bowlers and in the end, it will come down to who executes their skills better.
"It's not just the pace bowling, both the sides have had good performances by the spinners as well. It's gonna come down to who executes their skills better.
Both sides have world class bowlers. When you look at Bumrah, Bhuvi they are world class bowlers. It's just come down to early wickets," Finch said.
"Bumrah is a world-class bowler, you do your preparation against every bowler. He has had a good 12-18 months. It would be silly to go away from your gameplan, so we need to stick to our plans and just be confident," he added.
The Aussie skipper said that it is essential that the team's bowlers do not let Indian batsmen get off to a flier. He said it is paramount that the team does not play catch up cricket against India.
"You have to be right on the money from ball one against them. We have let Virat get off to a flier earlier, you cannot afford to play catchup against great players.
Both Rohit and Virat are pretty destructive so you have to be right on the money from ball one. We have had problems dismissing Dhoni in the past as well," Finch said.
Australia defeated West Indies by 15 runs in their previous match. Finch said it was good to go away with a win despite the fact that the team was not at their best. Australia was reduced to 38 for four and it came down to late order flourish which enabled them to post 288 runs on the board.
"I think it was really important especially looking at the context of the tournament. Weather can play a part in the tournament so getting the two points from the match in which we really did not play well orders well for us," Finch said.
Nathan Coulter-Nile who played a 92-run knock against West Indies earlier said that he could be dropped from the Australian lineup as he was not doing his prime job of taking wickets.
Finch said it orders well for the team that there is healthy competition among the team.
"It's great that there is competition for spots on the team. What is really important that players who have not played for us so far in the tournament are still putting pressure on the other players and this is a very good thing to have," Finch said.
Before the pre-match conference, David Warner's stroke hit one net bowler and the bowler was rushed to the hospital. Finch said Warner was pretty shaken up after the incident.
"Dave was pretty shaken up. The young guy seems to be in pretty good spirits at the moment, he's obviously been taken to hospital and will continue to be assessed just to make sure everything is okay.
It was a decent hit to the head. Hopefully, everything keeps going well for the youngster and is back up and running shortly. It was tough to watch," Finch said.
Finch had high praise for his team-mate, Steve Smith, calling him the best batsman in the world.
"Steve is the best batsman in the world, in my opinion, looking at all three formats. David is very destructive is at the top order so it's great for our side. Having them both is good for me tactically as well and I think we have a team which can win the World Cup," Finch said.
Australia takes on India on June 9 in the World Cup at the Oval.
