Cricket legend Shane Warne believes Aaron Finch should captain Australia in all three forms of the game.

Finch is already Australia's Twenty20 captain and is in the running to take over from Tim Paine and be named captain when the ODI squad to take on South Africa next month is announced.

The 31-year-old has filled in as one-day captain twice in the past and acted as Paine's deputy during Australia's most recent ODI tour – a 5-0 series whitewash against England earlier this year.

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And Warne has gone one step further and endorsed Finch to take the top job at Test level, after the Victorian made a successful start to playing red-ball cricket for Australia during the most recent series against Pakistan in the UAE.

Finch scored 181 runs at an average of 45 against the Pakistan and Warne feels the right-hander can step up and take over from Paine in the longest format as well.

"To me, he (Finch) should be captain. I'd like to see him captain all forms for the game," Warne told the Herald Sun.

"His one-day and T20 cricket is outstanding and if he can seize his opportunity in the Test team, I believe he has a lot to offer in red-ball cricket.

"He's a must pick and captaincy is a crucial element of the World Cup. I think he could do a great job and I like his captaincy style."

Warne has created plenty of headlines in recent weeks, with the Australia great critical of the national team’s faltering batting line-up during their Test series loss to Pakistan in the UAE.

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Warne has suggested dynamic opener D'Arcy Short should receive a chance alongside Finch at the top of the order, while he would also like to see Paine take on more responsibility and move himself up the batting order while he remains captain.

"I'd really like to see Paine move himself up and take some responsibility by saying: 'I'm the captain, I can bat, we're not doing the job, so I'm batting at six'," Warne said recently.

"I think if he wants to be there for a while and captain the side, I'd like to see him put some pressure on the higher spots. You need your best players up the order and he's one of our best batters."

India Tour of Australia 2018-19

Gillette T20s v India

November 21: The Gabba

November 23: MCG

November 25: SCG

Domain Tests v India

December 6-10: Adelaide Oval

December 14-18: Perth Stadium

December 26-30: MCG

January 3-7: SCG

Gillette ODI Series v India

January 12: SCG (D/N)

January 15: Adelaide Oval (D/N)

January 18: MCG (D/N)