Aaron Finch retires from T20 cricket: Decoding his stats
One of Australia's finest white-ball cricketers, Aaron Finch has called time on his cricket career. The Melbourne Renegades versus Melbourne Stars match in the 2023-24 Big Bash League (BBL) turned out to be his final outing in professional cricket. Notably, Finch retired from international cricket but continued to feature in T20 leagues. Here we decode his stellar stats in the 20-over format.
Seventh-most runs in T20 cricket
Finch, who bagged a three-ball duck in his final outing, finishes as the seventh-highest run-getter in T20 cricket, having slammed 11,458 runs in 387 games at 33.60. His strike rate reads 138.16. His highest score of 172 came for Australia against Zimbabwe in 2018. Finch's tally includes eight tons and 77 fifties. Only David Warner (11,732) boasts more T20 runs among Australian players.
Only Aussie batter to reach 3,000 T20I runs
Finch (3,120 runs) is still Australia's highest run-getter in T20Is (100: 2, 50s: 19). He remains the second-fastest to reach 3,000 T20I runs (98 innings). Virat Kohli and Babar Azam are tied in this regard (81 innings). He is the only batter to date with two 150-plus scores in T20Is. He led Australia to their maiden T20 World Cup honor in 2021.
Most matches as captain
Finch holds the record for playing most T20Is as a captain (76). Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Eoin Morgan (72 matches each) trail him. He concluded his career with 3,120 runs at 34.28. His strike rate in the format reads 142.53. Finch's 172 against Zimbabwe is the highest-ever score in T20Is. He also has the third-highest total in this regard (156 vs England).
Finch owns this noteworthy record
In July 2018, Finch became the first player to reach 900 rating points on the official International Cricket Council (ICC) T20I rankings. He ranks third in the all-time T20I rankings, behind England's Dawid Malan (915) and India's Suryakumar Yadav (910).
Second-most runs in BBL
Finch concludes his BBL career with 3,311 runs at 34.48 (SR: 131.12). The tally includes 26 fifties and two tons. Chris Lynn (3,725) is the only other batter with 3,000 or more BBL runs. All his 107 BBL appearances have come for the Renegades. Moises Henriques (127 for Sydney Sixers) is the only other player to play over 100 BBL games for a team.
Finch guided Renegades to a maiden BBL title
Finch made his debut for the Renegades in 2011. He captained the side in 2012 and was adjudged the BBL Player of the Year. In December 2015, Finch became the first player to reach the 1,000-run mark in the tournament. In 2018-19, he guided the Renegades to their maiden and only title so far in BBL, beating arch-rivals Melbourne Stars in the final.
