Tim David’s career as an Australian representative may not be limited to the sport’s Twenty20 format.
Such is David’s power the bat, skill with the ball and ability in the field, Australia’s new wildcard also had the potential to one-day cricket for his nation, according to his T20 skipper Aaron Finch.
“He’s a star,” Finch said of the 26-year-old all-rounder ahead of the T20 World Cup.
“Around the world he’s well and truly recognised in the T20 scene, and yet has its advantages dedicating your craft to one format.
“It allows you to become really specialised. That can in time translate into one-day cricket as well for him because he’s as clean a striker of the ball that you’ll get, he bowls some handy overs and he’s pretty good in the field as well.
“He’ll definitely be a household name by the time the tournament’s done.”
Finch admitted he had been pleasantly surprised by David’s calmness in the batting “finishing role”.
“For someone to have his ability to be really composed under pressure at a really frantic time of the game is something that has probably taken me a little bit by surprise,” he said.
“That comes with playing a lot of T20 cricket in a similar role for the last couple of years.
“I think he’s played over 120 games in the last two years. It’s extraordinary to be able to get that amount of experience so quick.”
Ahead of a warm-up clash against India in Brisbane on Monday, Finch said his team was “really close to nailing it” in its bid for a successful T2 World Cup defence.
“With the bat, we’ve probably been just one wicket too many down, leading into those back eight overs,” he said.
“It’d be nice if we were two down, (but) we’ve sort have been three, and every time we’ve been building a partnership, we lose one and we’ve been losing a bit of momentum.
“With the ball we’ve been really good throughout. All-round we’re really close.
“It’s about trying to make sure we’ve got as many bases covered as possible in a tournament where the format is really brutal.
“I feel everyone’s in a really good spot. There’s a real calmness within our group, and also a confidence that we know our best is good enough on the day … but you need a bit of luck in a T20 World Cup as well.
“The format lends itself to one individual performance knocking teams out or changing the course of a tournament.
“You have to accept that and you hope you’re on the right side of it. We’ve got enough matchwinners through our side that we can put enough pressure on the opposition.”