Australia's Aaron Finch retires from international cricket
Melbourne (PTI): Australia's most successful T20 International batter and captain Aaron Finch, who led the country to its maiden shortest format World Cup triumph in 2021, announced his retirement from international cricket on Tuesday.
The 36-year-old will, however, continue to play for the Renegades in the Big Bash League and would consider domestic T20 opportunities in other countries.
"Our World Cup winning, longest serving men's T20I captain has called time on a remarkable career. Thanks for everything @AaronFinch5," Cricket Australia (CA) said on its official Twitter handle.
Finch's retirement from international cricket was on expected lines. He played just five Tests, the last one being in 2018, and retired from the ODIs last year after a much-publicised struggle for form as captain of the Australian team.
He captained the team to their first T20 World Cup title when they defeated New Zealand in Dubai in 2021 and is one of only four male Australians to captain a World Cup winning side.
But, the Australian team under him failed to qualify for the semifinals T20 World Cup at home last year. His last international match came in the T20 showpiece when he top-scored with 63 as Australia beat Ireland by 42 runs.
"Realising that I won't be playing on until the next T20 World Cup in 2024, now is the right moment to step down and give the team time to plan and build towards that event," Finch told reporters at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
"I also want to say a huge thank you to all the fans who have supported me throughout my international career."
The long-term white-ball skipper and longest-serving T20I captain represented Australia in 254 international matches across all formats, playing five Tests (278 runs), 146 ODIs (5406 runs) and 103 T20Is.
Since making his international debut in a T20I in January 2011, Finch amassed 8,804 runs in all formats which includes 17 ODI centuries and two T20I tons.
Finch led Australia in a world record 76 men's T20Is, as well as in 55 ODIs, before his retirement. He is Australia's most prolific T20I batter with 3120 runs from 103 matches at an average of 34.28, with two hundreds and 19 fifties, and a strike-rate of 142.53.
He also holds the record for the highest score in a T20I when blasting 172 runs from just 76 balls against Zimbabwe in Harare in 2018, an incredible knock that included 10 sixes and 16 fours.
Finch was also a part of the Australia team that won the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup in 2015.
"Team success is what you play the game for and the maiden T20 World Cup win in 2021 and lifting the ODI World Cup on home soil in 2015 will be the two memories I cherish the most," Finch said.
"To be able to represent Australia for 12 years and play with and against some of the greatest players of all time has been an incredible honour."
Finch said he is hopeful of playing franchise cricket, insisting that it is only the "international cricket that I'm walking away from at the moment."
"I'm hopeful to play in The Hundred (in the UK) because that's a competition I was really excited about for a couple of years, but then didn't get the opportunity with COVID and then some tours that came up," he said.
"And if anything else pops up and it's at the right time, I'd definitely be interested."
Finch, who has represented nine IPL teams, will also be commentating during the upcoming season of the league and the ODI World Cup in India later this year.
"Plus I've been lucky enough to sign with Star India for some commentary stuff through the IPL and the 50-over World Cup (in India later this year), so that will be good fun.
"I've loved the broadcast side of it, since I've done a bit more of it this year and last year. You get to sit there and watch cricket and talk about it it's the best job in the world, besides playing."
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Top Cong leaders attend CWC meet, discuss further action against govt on G RAM G law
New Delhi (PTI): Top Congress leaders on Saturday are attending a crucial meeting of the working committee, the party's highest decision-making body.
They are deliberating on the current political situation in the country and the party's further action against the government after it replaced the UPA-era rural employment scheme Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA) with the new Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act (VB-G RAM G).
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The extended meeting of the Congress Working Committee is being attended by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and former party president Rahul Gandhi, besides chief ministers of the Congress-ruled states of Karnataka, Telangana and Himachal Pradesh.
Presidents of Pradesh Congress Committees (PCC) are also present at the meeting.
The meeting comes ahead of next year's assembly polls in Assam, Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, and the leaders are expected to deliberate on the party strategy.
The opposition party is set to finalise its action plan to counter the government after it repealed the MGNREGA, 2005.
The Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill that replaced the UPA-era MGNREGA was passed during the recently concluded winter session of Parliament. President Droupadi Murmu has already given her assent to it.
The Congress and other opposition parties have taken strong exception to the new law replacing MGNREGA, stating that it is an insult to Mahatma Gandhi as his name has been removed from its title.
The new law makes a statutory guarantee of 125 days of wage employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to undertake unskilled manual work.
However, instead of being a Central scheme, the new law provides that the Centre and the states will have to share a 60:40 per cent ratio funding for the scheme.
आज कांग्रेस मुख्यालय इंदिरा भवन में कांग्रेस वर्किंग कमेटी (CWC) की बैठक हुई।
— Congress (@INCIndia) December 27, 2025
इस बैठक में कांग्रेस अध्यक्ष श्री @kharge, CPP चेयरपर्सन श्रीमती सोनिया गांधी जी और नेता विपक्ष श्री @RahulGandhi समेत वर्किंग कमेटी के सदस्य मौजूद रहे।
📍 दिल्ली pic.twitter.com/59tNp0qawD
संविधान विरोधी BJP pic.twitter.com/YA2kBGIW1E
— Congress (@INCIndia) December 27, 2025
