Pat Cummins or David Warner? Ricky Ponting names Aaron Finch's successor as Australia's ODI captain

Aaron Finch announced his ODI retirement during Australia's home series versus New Zealand. The series finale became his last-ever appearance in the 50-over format, ahead of the 2023 ODI World Cup. Ahead of Australia's three-match T20I series opener versus hosts India, former Aussie skipper and two-time ODI World Cup-winning captain Ricky Ponting has named his choice as Finch's successor in the shorter format.

Pat Cummins, Steve Smith, David Warner are among the contenders with the likes of Alex Carey, Glenn Maxwell, etc. also having a lot of experience under their belt to take up the role. "I think it’ll be Pat Cummins, to be honest," Ponting told host Sanjana Ganesan on The ICC Review. "I know he doesn’t play all the ODIs for obvious reasons, because his workload in Test cricket has been, like all the fast bowlers, very high in the last few years. I know they are very conscious of making sure that they’ve got Cummins, (Josh) Hazlewood and (Mitchell) Starc 100 percent fit and healthy for the big Test series to come around. But look, I'd be surprised if it wasn’t Pat Cummins," he opined.

On Smith's chances and Warner's name being discussed despite what happened in the Cape Town Test in early 2018 (with them being involved in the sandpaper gate fiasco), Ponting stated, "I’m just basing this on what’s happened with Steve Smith he is now the Test vice-captain again, having been the captain and really at the center of the whole controversy in Cape Town. He is now the Test vice-captain, which means obviously that if Pat Cummins ever misses a Test, then Steve Smith is going to be the captain of Australia again in Test match cricket."

"So, if that’s the case, and all being even and reasonably fair, then I think it would be OK, as far as I’m concerned, for David Warner to have his name (in the ring). Not saying that they have to make him captain, but he should be able to be in the conversation," the Delhi Capitals' head coach asserted.

The 47-year-old Punter also opened up on Finch's decision and said, "I wasn’t surprised actually. I sort of personally felt that he was probably one game away or one failure away from getting dropped anyway. That’s how bad his last 12 months have been in one-day international cricket. I think it was the right time. I actually thought it was really noble, what he said as well, that stepping down when he did, it gives the next captain a reasonable time leading getting himself and his team ready for the next World Cup.

"I was afforded a similar thing as well when I took over the captaincy, and when I stood down and Michael Clarke took over, I was very aware of what was coming up. I wanted to give the next captain a very good run into the next big tournament that they played," he signed off.

Finch retired from ODIs with5,406 runs in 146 matches, averaging 38.89 along with 17 centuries.