AUS vs NZ: Aaron Finch names Australia superstar who will make way for Travis Head in playing XI

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AUS vs NZ: Aaron Finch has named the Australia player who would make way for Travis Head once he is inducted in the playing eleven. The five-time champions are set to face New Zealand at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala on Saturday, October 28.

Travis Head has already arrived in India and joined the Australia squad after recovering from a fractured hand. He did not feature in the match against Netherlands which Australia won by a record 309-run margin in Delhi on Wednesday. However, chances of him playing against Trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand is high.

Finch has reckoned that Marnus Labuschagne will be the one making way for Head. In his column for the ICC, the former Australia captain further wrote that Steve Smith could be asked to bat at four to accommodate Mitchell Marsh at four.

Aaron Finch reasoned that Marsh could face issues rotating the strikes and facing the spinners straightaway after coming out to bat in the middle and therefore slotting him at number three would be the best option.

"The return of Travis Head, meanwhile, means a reshuffle is likely at the top of the order and it will be interesting to see how they go about it. Steve Smith’s record at number three is incredible, so Australia will be considering whether Mitchell Marsh goes to three or four," Finch wrote in his column for ICC.

"I expect Marnus Labuschagne to be the one who drops out, on the basis of 'last man in, first man out’. Smith getting runs in the last game is a good sign for Australia and I think the only issue they would see is Mitchell Marsh starting against spin with four men out, as his ability to rotate the strike isn’t as good as some of the other guys in that middle order.

"I expect they’ll put him at three and task him with being really positive in that powerplay. Marnus will feel hard done by, no question, but that’s the reality of tournament cricket. Travis Head has the ability to take the game away from teams in the powerplay and we’ve seen the importance of that in this competition," he added.

Earlier, Steve Smith also hinted that he could be pushed to number four if Travis Head is brought back in the eleven. The star batter likes batting at number three more.

"So yeah, I got told if Trav was playing that I was going to be batting 4. I'll do whatever the team wants. I've got a pretty good record at three, so I was a bit shocked in a way, but I'll do what I need to for the team," Smith had said.