Australia name squad for World T20; Steve Smith appointed captain

Melbourne, Feb 9: After a 0-3 whitewash against India, Australia have made major changes to their side for the next month's ICC World Twenty20.

Full schedule of World T20

The Australian selectors on Tuesday (February 9), named Steve Smith as the captain of the team and dropped wicketkeeper Matthew Wade. Smith's latest elevation means he is the leader in all three formats (Tests, ODIs, T20Is) for Australia.

Aaron Finch, who led in India series but missed the final game due to hamstring injury, has been retained in the squad as he recovers. Test stumper Peter Nevill was been called up while off-spinner Nathan Lyon is also axed.

Opener David Warner continues to be the vice-captain. Left-arm spinner Ashton Agar is included along with legpsinner Adam Zampa.

After doing extremely well in the Big Bash League (BBL), Usman Khawaja has won a place for India trip to play in the global tournament.

"We feel our batting depth in this squad is sufficient enough that we can have a specialist wicket-keeper in the squad," said National Selector Rod Marsh was quoted as saying on the Cricket Australia (CA) website.

"We want Australia's best wicketkeeper playing in this tournament and we consider Peter Nevill to be the best in the country right now," he added.

Australia are in Group 2 along with hosts India, Pakistan, New Zealand and a qualifier. They open campaign against New Zealand on March 18 in Dharamsala.

The tournament runs from March 8 to April 3. Australia have never won World T20, the only missing global silverware in their vast collection of trophies.

Australia squad for World T20: Steve Smith (captain), David Warner (vice-captain), Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, John Hastings, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Peter Nevill (wicketkeeper), Andrew Tye, Shane Watson, Adam Zampa.

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