Battered finger would need to be cut off to miss Boxing Day Test: Aaron Finch

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Declaring himself fit for the upcoming third Test against India, Australian opener Aaron Finch has said that his injured right index finger would need to be "cut off" to stop him from playing at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) from Boxing Day. 

Finch was forced to retire hurt at the stroke of tea on the second day of the second Test in Perth when a short delivery from Mohammed Shami landed awkwardly on his right index finger in the 12th over. He, however, resumed his innings on day three, only to last one ball and depart for 25. 

Reflecting on the incident, the 32-year-old batsman said that he felt like his finger was going to explode from a blow that left bone visible from a deep cut. It is to be noted that Finch was hit a few times on the same finger by Mitchell Starc during training sessions. 

"It was a bit of a shock, just the initial pain was the thing that got me. It felt like it was going to explode, which was quite funny. I think just being hit a few times in the last month, a couple times by Starcy at training then Shami out in the game, but it's also an old break," ESPNcricinfo quoted Finch as saying. 

Finch had broken the same finger during the series against Sri Lanka a few years back and the batsman admitted he needs to learn some strategies in order to avoid such kind of injuries. 

"I broke the same finger in Sri Lanka a couple of years ago, so I've got to start either catching them or use my bat instead of my gloves. It was up there [as the most painful]. I think snapping my hamstring tendon [in April 2015] was probably the most over the last few years," he said. 

However, Finch remained adamant that he would play in the Boxing Day Test in front of an MCG home crowd, in what seems to be crucial match of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar series.

"With a Boxing Day Test and being from Victoria it's going to have to be cut off I think," he said. 

"I'm going to catch in slips at training and do my normal preparation. If anything changes in the next couple days I'm sure we'll have to sit down and chat about that, but at this stage it's still business as usual and I plan to field at slip and whatever else is needed. It feels like it's improved 100% over the last couple of days," Finch signed off.

India won the first Test by 31 runs with a well-balanced bowling unit, including a spinner, the four-pacer plan backfired in Perth as Australia levelled the series with a 146-run win.The four-match Test series is now levelled at 1-1.