Following the T20 World Cup 2021 grand finale on Sunday, Australian skipper Aaron Finch revealed his discussion with coach Justin Langer before the start of the tournament. Despite his lean patch in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, Finch had predicted that his opening partner David Warner would be named “Player of the Tournament” of the T20 World Cup 2021.
"You didn't expect that? I certainly did. Without a word of a lie, I promise you, I called Justin Langer a few months ago and I said, 'Don't worry about Davey. He'll be the Man of the Tournament,' Finch said in the post-match press conference.
However, the right-handed batter felt that his other teammate and leg spinner, Adam Zampa should have been named ‘Player of the tournament’.
“I thought Adam Zampa should have been Man of the Tournament, personally, but he's a great player. He's one of the all-time great batters and he's a fighter. He's someone when his back is against the wall, that's when you get the very, very best of David Warner. It was a special finish of the tournament for him, the last couple of knocks," the Australian skipper told the reporters.
Warner has scored 289 runs at an average of 48.16 and a strike rate of 146.70 in seven matches, while Zampa has taken 13 wickets at an incredible average of 12.08 and an economy of 5.81 in the same number of matches.
Surprisingly, Warner and Zampa were both second on the list of highest run-getters and wicket-takers respectively in the 2021 edition. However, Warner was awarded the 'Player of the Tournament' prize in the end. Following Kevin Pietersen in the 2010 edition, the southpaw became only the second player from the winning side to be named 'Player of the Tournament.'
