File image of MS Dhoni
Australia head coach Justin Langer on Tuesday said that the most teams in the world are presently looking for a white-ball finisher, similar to the likes of England's Jos Buttler. He also praised legends like Mike Hussey, Michael Bevan and MS Dhoni saying that they are masters of this art.
"We've been fortunate in the past with a Mike Hussey or a Michael Bevan who are masters at it. (MS) Dhoni is a master of it ... Jos Buttler has been brilliant at it for England,” Langer told reporters before Australia’s departure from South Africa post their 3-0 loss in the ODIs. "What I've learned is everyone in the world is looking for it."
They will now have a three-match ODI series against New Zealand which will help them to test their middle-order lineup and look for that potential finisher option.
For Australia, they have tried as many as 13 batters for the middle-order lineup and nine for the position of No.6. Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis got most of the opportunity for the finisher role, but the latter misfired scoring only 27 runs in four innings. In the South Africa series, Mitchell Marsh was tried out in the last two games and he scored 32 and 26 runs only.
Earlier, ahead of the ODI series in India in January, wicketkeeper-batsman Alex Carey admitted that he is looking to fulfil that role for Australia just like Dhoni did for India. He had scored back-to-back fifties in that role for Australia in the World Cup last year.
"So it's a role that's there for someone to grab hold of," said Langer. "No one at this stage has absolutely secured it, have they? But there are good opportunities there for someone to do that."
