IPL 2020: 'Aaron Finch was the biggest disappointment for RCB this season' - Aakash Chopra

Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra has opined that Aaron Finch turned out to be the biggest disappointment for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in IPL 2020.

He made this observation while reviewing the Virat Kohli-led side's season in a video shared on his YouTube channel.

Aakash Chopra picked Aaron Finch as the biggest letdown for RCB in IPL 2020, considering the huge expectations the franchise had from him.

"Aaron Finch was the biggest disappointment for RCB this season. They had put huge stakes on him and stuck with him for a long time as well. You expect the Finch hitting from him."

The reputed commentator observed that RCB reposed significant faith in Finch. He highlighted that franchise made the aggressive opener play the first eleven matches even though he was not amongst the runs, which was unlike the way Moeen Ali was handled.

"He got a whole lot of chances to bat. So no one can say that he played in this team and was not given the chances. You can say that for Moeen Ali, that he was in and out of the team but Aaron Finch played all the matches, I mean he played 10-12 matches at the start."

The form KKR player pointed out that the Australian limited-overs captain neither exhibited any form nor scored the runs that were expected of him. Chopra illustrated that RCB then tried out Joshua Philippe at the top of the order, which also did not yield the desired results.

"But the form was not seen at all. Neither the form was seen nor the runs. He was even dropped at the end and then brought back again because Joshua Philippe did not do a great job either."

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Aakash Chopra on RCB's expectations from Aaron Finch

Aaron Finch scored just a solitary fifty for RCB in IPL 2020 [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra observed that RCB would have expected Aaron Finch to come good at the top of the order alongside Devdutt Padikkal as it would have considerably eased the pressure on Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers.

"But you had more expectations from Aaron Finch. Because imagine if Devdutt Padikkal was playing well from one side and Aaron Finch had been playing well, then the pressure and responsibility would have been less on Virat and AB de Villiers."

He added that an established opener like Finch is expected to give performances like the ones delivered by Quinton de Kock for the Mumbai Indians and the pair of KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal for the Kings XI Punjab.

"And you need a Quinton de Kock type of performance or say the KL Rahul or Mayank Agarwal type of performance that suddenly catapults your team to greater heights."

Aakash Chopra signed off by observing that Finch's lack of form was one of the primary reasons behind RCB being unable to finish higher than the fourth position in the league table.

"But that did not happen with this team. And the main reason for that was the big-stake player who was played, that is Aaron Finch and from RCB's perspective he was a bit of a disappointment."

Aaron Finch managed to score just 268 runs in the twelve matches he played for RCB in IPL 2020, at a below-par average of 22.33 and an abysmal strike rate of 111.20. He had just a solitary fifty-plus score in the tournament, and didn't give RCB the starts that were expected from a batsman of his repute.

@mohsinaliisb @razi_haider Finch has been complete failure for RCB this season. He seems to be more like a SEASONED player. Performance in a particular season only 😆. Not this season for sure

— सिद्धार्थ बगड़िया (@imsidbagaria) October 21, 2020