Zampa 'stiff' to miss out: Finch

Mitch Marsh's gastro bug might have cost leg-spinner Adam Zampa a spot in Australia's XI for the first Gillette Series ODI against India at the SCG, says skipper Aaron Finch.

Finch said Zampa was "very stiff" to miss out on playing in tomorrow's series opener with veteran off-spinner Nathan Lyon the sole specialist spinner for the hosts.

Coach Justin Langer said yesterday Australia would consider playing two spinners with allrounders Marsh and Marcus Stoinis to share the bowling load of one specialist fast bowler.

But with Marsh ruled out having been hospitalised for two days this week with gastritis, the thinking changed and Zampa appears to be the victim.

Finch said on match eve, after naming the XI, that there was "no doubt" Australia were looking at playing two frontline spinners before Marsh went down.

"Adam's very stiff to miss out on a game tomorrow, he's performed reasonably well for us in the last little bit since he's made his comeback," Finch said.

"It's unfortunate for him to miss but we feel those two (Zampa and Lyon) together could play a really big part over the next six to 10 months.

"The conditions we'll get in (ODI tours) India and UAE they'll definitely be a place at some point for that."

Zampa has been in fine form this summer since being overlooked for Australia's 5-0 ODI whitewash in England last winter.

In the JLT One-Day Cup, he captured 12 wickets in six matches while conceding just 5.08 runs per over, an impressive number given the small grounds the tournament was played on.

He then played in two of the three one-dayers against South Africa and bowled much better than his combined figures of 0-89 suggest.

But it was against India in two T20 internationals where the 26-year-old upped his game, taking 2-22 and 1-22 from four overs each in the 1-1 drawn series.

He's again been frugal in the KFC BBL this season, with five wickets in as many matches and a bowling economy rate of 6.55.

While there have been varying reports on the communication and feedback between players and selectors, Zampa said his dialogue with the National Selection Panel has been nothing but positive. 

"I had a good conversation with Trevor (Hohns, national selector) last year," Zampa said yesterday.

"I was very disappointed in getting dropped from the ODI squad that went to England.

"I also didn't get a CA contract so it was a wake-up call really.

"I was angry at the time but I also had a really good conversation with him about things I needed to work on.

"I really had a conversation with myself about how I can go and sook and whinge but I went away to England and the Caribbean (where he played domestic T20 cricket) and worked on my game.

"I'm still working on my game – I'm certainly not the perfect bowler at the moment.

"I'm still going through a few things I'd like to get better at.

"I remember a long time ago, three or four years ago, he (Hohns) said to me, 'You do the hardest thing in cricket so don't be so hard on yourself'.

"I think Trevor has been really good for me."

Australia: Finch (c), Carey (wk) Khawaja, S Marsh, Handscomb, Stoinis, Maxwell, Lyon, Siddle, Richardson, Behrendorff

Gillette ODI Series v India

Australia ODI squad: Aaron Finch (c), Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey (wk), Peter Handscomb, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Peter Siddle, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Turner, Adam Zampa

India ODI squad: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj

First ODI: January 12, SCG (D/N)

Second ODI: January 15, Adelaide Oval (D/N)

Third ODI: January 18, MCG (D/N)