Never easy trying to lead the side when you're not performing: Aaron Finch

Aaron Finch has admitted that captaining Australia was not easy as he struggled for runs. The Aussie white-ball skipper finally returned to form as he played a knock of 69 off 44 balls in the third T20I against New Zealand.

Prior to Wednesday's knock, Aaron Finch averaged just 17.06 in his last 29 T20 innings, with several experts raising question marks over his lack of runs and leadership ability. But Finch felt his captaincy was on point even in the BBL, where his side, the Melbourne Renegades, finished bottom of the points table.

"It was just nice to get a few runs; it's been a while. I was just short of runs. It's never easy when you're trying to lead the side, and you're not performing as well as you would like personally. But you always put the team first. I felt as though my captaincy has been pretty good throughout this period as well, right through the Big Bash," Finch was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.

It doesn't get more unlucky than this for Aaron Finch. Bowled off a deflection from the thigh pad 😫 #BBL10 pic.twitter.com/q4Ot56Qwmx

— KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) January 20, 2021

The opener said he trusted his process, which has seen him last on the international stage for 10 years.

"At times it was a little bit of wanting so desperately to get some runs that you forget to watch the ball. As soon as you don't ... one percent can be enough in this game to have you off and you're out. So it was just trusting my process that, for the past 10 years, has been pretty solid and has given me a great foundation to bounce back from," Aaron Finch added.

George Bailey backs Aaron Finch

Aaron Finch

Recently, Aaron Finch received a big vote of confidence from Australian selector George Bailey. Former players like Mark Waugh raised questions over Finch's form and indicated the skipper could even be dropped. However, Bailey cleared the air and said the 34-year-old would stay on as captain and lead Australia in the upcoming T20 World Cup.

"He's the captain of this side, and he'll be the captain of this side at the World Cup. It (Aaron Finch's criticism) is just complete white noise for me," said Bailey.

Following their win on Wednesday, Australia are still alive in the five-match T20I series, which New Zealand currently lead by a 2-1 margin.