Aaron Finch's form woes raise questions: 'It hasn't been up to scratch'

Aaron Finch reckons he doesn't need to be told he's struggling with the bat after Australia's ODI series defeat in Pakistan - but the white-ball captain is confident he's going to fight back at 35.

Finch's rotten run continued in Lahore on Saturday when he was dismissed for a second straight duck, the first time he's had this indignity in his international career.

His quick exit set the scene for Australia to get hammered by nine wickets in the ODI series decider while inevitably raising fresh questions about his own unconvincing form.

He's now scored just 101 runs in his last eight international knocks in 2022, including a difficult T20I series against Sri Lanka in February, but Finch offered an honest if defiant response when quizzed post-match about recent failures.

"Obviously, it hasn't been up to scratch. I've been well short of runs in the Sri Lanka series and this series here, there's no doubting that," he said. "I don't need you to tell me that. It's frustrating, no doubt, and as you get older, I think you probably question yourself a little bit more.

"But I still feel as though all my training has been really positive, it's just been the first couple of balls, getting my pad in the way. It's been a thing throughout my career and it would be nice if it didn't happen - but I'm still very confident I can turn it round in the next series against Sri Lanka."

Added to the scrutiny on Finch is the large number of options Australia have for their top-order batting positions. Travis Head and Ben McDermott staked their claims in this series with a century apiece while David Warner, Steven Smith and Mitchell Marsh were all absent and will need to find slots in future contests.

Haris Rauf trapped Finch third ball with his ripping late swing, again highlighting the captain's susceptibility to lbw, a technical, head-alignment glitch at the outset of his innings that he's trying to correct. He went through a similar period ahead of the 2019 ODI World Cup where he had significant problems particularly against India's Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Finch, who led Australia to a T20 World Cup triumph last November and hopes to defend the title at home later this year then take on the 50-over World Cup in 2023, said he has "no excuses" with his own fitness, feeling his repaired right knee has been fine in Pakistan.

He has one more innings on this tour to try and find some runs in the one-off T20I that takes place on Tuesday before he heads to the IPL having been picked up as a replacement player for Kolkata Knight Riders where he will team up with Test captain Pat Cummins.

His next international assignment after Pakistan is the tour of Sri Lanka in June which includes a large white-ball component of three T20Is and five ODIs.

Despite the heavy defeat in the ODI decider, Finch has been impressed by the performance of many of the second-stringers who've been drafted in to the Pakistan white-ball tour while key men have either been injured or resting.

"What was really impressive was how good our quicks were at different times," he said. "It was a great opportunity for guys like Nathan Ellis, Mitch Swepson, Jason Behrendorff, Sean Abbott and Cameron Green to get more bowling under their belt in international cricket against some world-class players.

"The ability to bowl to the best players in the world on really challenging wickets will help not just them but also hold the Australian cricket team in really good stead.

"It will allow us to continue to learn about the depth of the team. That's not hiding behind the results; the ability of the guys to learn on the job in international cricket is super, and I'm really proud of how the guys tried their hearts out."