“Maybe a little bit more of a heads up?” - Aaron Finch slams Marcus Stoinis for his sudden ODI retirement

Former Australian opener Aaron Finch has slammed the dashing all-rounder Marcus Stoinis for his decision to retire from One Day Internationals with immediate effect. This decision from Stoinis has led the national selection committee to come up with a replacement for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

Though Stoinis played only one ODI since Australia's World Cup 2023 winning campaign, this decision has baffled the former Australian opener Aaron Finch. Notably, Stoinis is giving more preference to T20 cricket, which was the strong reason behind his sudden decision.

"When you've had the faith put in you by the selection, the coach & the captain - maybe a little bit more of a heads up? Saying, 'You know, this is what I am thinking.' I would be surprised if it was an off the cuff decision as well, I am sure there would have been planning down the track, there would have been conversations between Andrew McDonald and Marcus Stoinis to try to get to the decision," Finch told ESPN Australia.

Having made his debut in 2015, Stoinis has played 71 ODIs, scoring 1495 runs at an average of 26.70 with 48 wickets at an economy of 6. The Australian selectors have replaced the all-rounder with seam bowling all-rounder Aaron Hardie for the ICC Champions Trophy, scheduled to start on February 19.

"At the end of the day, each player has the opportunity to decide what their fate is going forward. For me, if you look at Marcus Stoinis for the last couple of years, he's preferred to play the T20 route. Being in Pakistan, then straight to India after a summer of cricket at home, that can potentially be four-five months on the road, so maybe that contributed to the decision," Finch added.

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