Former Australian captain Aaron Finch has picked the five best Australian cricketers to have played in the IPL, while ignoring the likes of Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Starc.
Australian players have always made a huge impact in the IPL since the inception of the competition. Australian great Shane Warne had led Rajasthan Royals to the first title in the history of the competition. The second captain to win the IPL was also Warne’s former Australian teammate.
In the current IPL season, many former IPL players have been seen in new roles such as Shane Watson as the coach of the KKR team and Aaron Finch with the Star Sports commentary panel. He made some impressive choices when asked to pick the top 5 Australian cricketers in the IPL.
Aaron Finch picked the former CSK star as the best Australian batsman in the IPL
Former Australian captain Aaron Finch, who led the Australians to a World Cup title in 2021, recently gave his opinion on the top 5 Australian players in the history of the competition.
The former star batsman, who played for franchises like Gujarat Lions and Punjab Kings on previous occasions, picked MR Cricket Michael Hussey as one of the top 5 Australian stars in the history of the tournament. The batsman was praised for his promising IPL triumph with the Chennai Super Kings and the number of runs he scored while playing for CSK and MI.
His best season came with CSK, as he scored 733 runs in a single season, one of the highest runs scored in a single season at that time, before Virat Kohli, among Indian batsmen, and David Warner, among foreign batsmen, surpassed his record.
Shane Watson and David Warner named in Finch’s top 5 Australian players in the IPL
Aaron Finch then picked two Australian pacers in his list. This included one of the recent players, Josh Hazlewood, after his spectacular numbers with Royal Challengers Bengaluru over the last two seasons.
He also picked former Mumbai Indians pacer Mitchell Johnson, the left-arm quick who had won three seasons with the Mumbai-based franchise. Johnson, often called one of the deadliest pacers of modern times, was known as a wicket-taking machine for MI along with the great Lasith Malinga.
Aaron Finch then picked out his former Australian teammates Shane Watson and David Warner, calling them absolute legends in the history of the tournament. He pointed out Warne’s run record and 66 50+ scores in the IPL. He also had his eyes set on Shane Watson’s dream debut and retirement in the IPL, winning a trophy on both occasions with different franchises. He was also the MVP of the IPL for several seasons.
Great Australian cricketers in IPL who are ignored by Finch
Aaron Finch managed to pick the two Australian players who he felt had dominated Australian cricket. But he ignored many big Australian names, including some stars who have won seasons for their franchise.
IPL has featured the likes of Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Glenn Maxwell and the two winning captains, Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist. However, Finch overlooked all these cricketers while choosing the top 5.
Watson, Warner and…. Aaron Finch picks his top five Australians of all time in the IPL 🍿 pic.twitter.com/G1ZkwBTUkN
– ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) April 16, 2026
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