"Australia will defend the World Cup under the captaincy of Aaron Finch"

Hyderabad: Former skipper Mark Taylor has expressed that Australia will defend the World Cup under the captaincy Aaron Finch who is currently leading the Aussie team.

Mark believes that Finch's innings of 93 in third ODI against India should give him a lot of confidence to the right-hand batsman.

Talking about Finch's form he said, "I have been worried about his form, but I think he is a wonderful captain who does an excellent job. He is running into India every game at the moment. He has played one-dayers, Test matches and now more One-Dayers and they are bowling very well to him."

"He knows the game very well. I like his field settings, his bowling changes, generally, he is very aggressive. He has got 11 one day hundreds from 102 games so his record is very good", said former cricketer while praising the captaincy of Finch.

The 54-year-old Mark said that having the experienced duo of Steve Smith and David Warner around will definitely help Finch. He also believes that this trio, when in form, coupled with a very impressive bowling unit should give opposing teams plenty to worry about at the World Cup.

"The Warner-Smith factor will be real in England. Big time real. You want a senior player who is going to work well with them, but also be his own man. And that is Aaron Finch," Taylor said.

Meanwhile, Taylor feels that despite Adam Zampa being absolutely magnificent in the series against India, Nathan Lyon can play a big role in the upcoming World Cup.

"One thing we have to take into consideration is that side is going to be playing in England in June and July and not in India or Dubai in February or March. I have got Lyon just ahead of Zampa, particularly in England conditions," he added.

Australia will take on Afghanistan in their first World Cup match at Bristol on June 1.