Australia coach Langer looking for finisher like Dhoni

Australia’s three-match ODI series against New Zealand, beginning on March 13, provides it an opportunity to test the depth in its middle order, and potentially hone in on batsmen who could fill the ‘finisher’ role.

“We’ve been fortunate in the past with a Mike Hussey or a Michael Bevan who are masters at it. MS Dhoni is a master of it, Jos Buttler has been brilliant at it for England,” Langer was quoted as saying by ICC. “What I’ve learned is everyone in the world is looking for it,” he added.

Dhoni has won India innumerable matches from seemingly hopeless positions, and so did the likes of Bevan and Hussey.

South Africa crushed Australia 3-0 in the recently-concluded ODI series where Mitchell Marsh played at number 6 in the second and third games and scored 32 and 36 runs respectively. Langer feels it is the right time for the potential candidates to seal the spot.

“So it’s a role that’s there for someone to grab hold of,” said Langer. “No one at this stage has absolutely secured it, have they? But there are good opportunities there for someone to do that,” he added. Over the last year, as many as 13 batsmen have occupied positions 4-7 for Australia in ODIs, with nine different batsmen tried out at No.6. Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis occupied the spot in five matches each, but Stoinis, particularly, misfired in the role.

Langer also divested greater responsibility to individual players on how they might train and prepare for matches, which he in turn hoped would make them more resilient and less reliant when faced with daunting decisions out in the middle.

“I do think he’s mellowed out a fair bit,” Khawaja says of his coach. The fact that Langer’s change of tack brought with it a sustained period of on-field success for the ODI outfit meant the next challenge – reintegrating Steve Smith and David Warner into the team at the expiration of their suspensions – became more manageable.

In no small part, that was due to the manner in which the Cape Town incident and its fall-out was dealt with at the first team meeting Smith and Warner attended as the squad assembled in the UAE for an ODI series against Pakistan.