The need to have variety in the spin attack led to Mohammed Shami’s exclusion from India’s 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup in Australia next month. Shami was slotted among the reserves as the national selectors picked a near full-strength pace bowling attack with the return of Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel.

That the duo were expected to be fit for the showpiece event was reported by The Telegraph on September 4. There was never any doubt over T20 specialist Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s place while young Arshdeep Singh has been rewarded for his performances in the Powerplay and death overs. Hardik Pandya will add strength to the fourman pace battery.

Shami has not played any cricket since the end of the one-day series against England in mid-July and has been included for the home T20Is against Australia and South Africa, later this month, to give him some game-time. The four national selectors met virtually on Monday afternoon along with captain Rohit Sharma after speaking to head coach Rahul Dravid.

It was learnt that the team management’s views were given “utmost importance” in picking the players and the selectors merely met their demands. It is clear that Hooda’s off spin bowling enjoys very little trust.

Sources told The Telegraph that once it was decided both Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik would be included, it came down to a choice between Ashwin and Shami. Besides adding variety, Ashwin was preferred for his experience of bowling on pitches Down Under.

With some of the sides loaded with lefthanders in their top-order, Ashwin could be useful in curtailing their big-hitting ways. Ravi Bishnoi could consider himself unlucky after his inspirational show against Pakistan in the Super Four clash in Dubai. It didn’t make sense to have two leg spinners in Yuzvendra Chahal and Bishnoi in the squad. Left-arm spinner Axar Patel was an automatic choice once Ravindra Jadeja was ruled out with a knee injury.

However, the need to pick three specialist spinners in the early part of the Australian summer is open to debate. There wasn’t any dispute over the selection of the top four — Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav. There are no changes to the batting unit from the one which played in the Asia Cup, including the wicketkeeping options.

Hooda has been one of the finds this season along with Arshdeep and there was no way he could have missed out. Shreyas Iyer’s suspect technique against the short deliveries led to him being overlooked on the bouncier Australian wickets. Like all teams, India can make changes to their squad until their first match, against Pakistan on October 23.

Home series

As part of India’s preparations, Hardik and Bhuvneshwar have been rested for the T20I series against South Africa. Arshdeep has been rested for the Australia T20Is. “Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh and Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be reporting to the NCA for conditioning-related work during the course of the home series against Australia and South Africa,” a BCCI media release said.