Steve Smith to lead Australia in World T20 2016

Test & ODI skipper Steve Smith has been chosen to lead Australia in the upcoming World T20 2016 in India. Smith took over the reigns of captaincy from Aaron Finch following a hamstring injury to the latter. Though Finch has been named in the side. However, the former T20 skipper will first have to prove his fitness should he be eligible for selection.

The Australian selection committee has made a few controversial selections in the eyes of many thus far. Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Adam Zampa and Peter Neville have all been included in the squad. Experienced campaigners such as Nathan Lyon, Cameron Boyce and Matthew Wade have all been left out. The selection of Ashton Agar, in particular, comes as a rude shock to many. Agar hasn’t featured in Australian colors since 2014.

Chief selector and former Aussie wicketkeeper Rodney Marsh has backed the selection, stating that all the players selected deserved their spot in the side.

“Aaron Finch has done a very good job captaining Australia in T20 cricket,” Marsh said. “He will have benefited enormously from the leadership opportunity and will remain a highly-respected leader within the Australian squad. However since he became T20 captain, there has been a broader leadership transition in Test and one-day international cricket with Michael Clarke retiring and Steve Smith assuming the captaincy in Test and one-day cricket.

“We think now is the right time for Steve to lead Australia in all three forms of the game as it offers us important continuity, not only ahead of the World T20, but beyond that tournament as well.”

Marsh also went on to defend the selection of Peter Neville in the squad. The exclusion of Matthew Wade simply goes on to prove that runs are not a major criteria when it comes to choosing the right man for the job. He also went on to state that the depth in batting was more than enough for them to choose a specialist wicket-keeper. The selection of youngster Cameron Bancroft in the side has been a one-off experiment.

We feel our batting depth in this squad is sufficient enough that we can have a specialist wicketkeeper in the squad,” Marsh said. “We want Australia’s best wicket-keeper playing in this tournament and we consider Peter Nevill to be the best in the country right now.”

Marsh also defended the selection of Agar and Zampa and the exclusion of Nathan Lyon and Cameron Boyce.

“Given the conditions we are likely to face in India, we wanted to have a number of different spinning options available to us,” Marsh said. “Ashton Agar, Adam Zampa and Glenn Maxwell give us plenty of flexibility in the slow-bowling department which is incredibly important in this format.”

Squad: Steve Smith (C), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Aaron Finch, John Hastings, Josh Hazlewood, James Faulkner, Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Peter Nevill (wk), Andrew Tye, Shane Watson, Adam Zampa