Australia named a 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup on Thursday with uncapped wicketkeeper Josh Inglis being a surprise inclusion.

The star trio of batsmen Steve Smith and David Warner and pacer Pat Cummins have been recalled to the squad, which will be captained by Aaron Finch. Smith is nursing an elbow issue while Finch hasn’t fully recovered from a knee surgery. Both are expected to be fit in time for the tournament, which will be held from October 17-November 14 in the UAE and Oman.

Western Australian Inglis has been chosen ahead of Alex Carey and Josh Philippe as a back-up wicketkeeper to Matthew Wade. He topped the run scorers’ list in England’s domestic T20 Blast tournament with 531 runs at an average of 48.27 for Leicestershire.

“Josh has been on the radar for a while. His performance, and not just in T20 but across all formats, has been really impressive over the last 12 months,” chief selector George Bailey said on Thursday. “Really good player of spin, provides a few different finishing abilities… He’s a really great all-round player.”

Considering the spinner-friendly conditions in the UAE, Australia have included three spinners — Ashton Agar, Mitchell Swepson and Adam Zampa. Their pace attack too looks balanced with Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Kane Richardson.

Australia XV

Aaron Finch (captain), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis,
Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa.