Adam Zampa hopes national selectors squeeze three spinners into Australia's Twenty20 World Cup squad but knows it's unlikely.
Rod Marsh's panel is in the process of finalising their 15-man squad for the tournament in India next month.
Offspinning allrounder Glenn Maxwell will be one of the first picked, while Test tweaker Nathan Lyon and legspinners Zampa and Cameron Boyce are stuck in a tight selection battle.
Zampa, who claimed two key wickets on ODI debut on Saturday, suspects there will only be room for one wrist spinner in the group to be revealed on Tuesday.
"You need to have most bases covered so you'd probably have a wrist spinner and a finger spinner," the 23-year-old said.
"Two wrist spinners in the squad is probably fairly tough work but I don't know, I'm not a selector."
Spin is expected to play a pivotal role in Australia's bid to win the only major cricket trophy they've never lifted.
However, Zampa takes a slightly different view.
It might not help his selection hopes but the refreshingly-honest spinner tipped the tourists could actually encounter a couple of docile decks on the subcontinent.
"I played the Australia A series there in Chennai and it spun," he said.
"But guys say that if you concentrate on spin too much it might hurt you a little bit.
"The grounds there are quite small and some of the wickets are very flat so you don't know what you're going to get.
"I'm sure it will play a role but I don't think it will be as much of a role as what people tend to think."
Boyce and Lyon were preferred ahead of Zampa in the recent home T20 series against India.
However, Zampa was called up for the current three-match ODI series against New Zealand so Marsh could see how he performs under pressure.
"When you're playing for Australia you don't really see it as an audition," Zampa said.
"I'm just seeing this as playing for my country ... I was pretty excited about making my debut."
Zampa is unsure of where he sits in the spin pecking order but is confident he could do thrive in the World Cup, having picked up 12 wickets at 22.50 in the recent Big Bash League season.
"I've got the numbers on the board lately so it just depends what the selectors go with," he said.
"Either way I'm just going to concentrate on this next game against New Zealand."
Mitch Marsh, named man of the match in Wellington after his unbeaten 69 helped Australia square the trans-Tasman series, is another on the cusp of the squad.
Marsh was left out of a 17-man squad for the recent T20 series against India.
But the market suggests he is among the best T20 players in the world, having been sold for $1 million during Saturday's Indian Premier League auction.
"Obviously they picked 17 for the Twenty20 series and they've got to cut that to 15," Marsh said.
"I haven't really thought about it."
Share
