Marcus Stoinis and Tim David make IPL statement as Aussies name T20 World Cup squad

Marcus Stoinis and Tim David gave national cricket selectors a convincing reason to select them in Australia's T20 World Cup squad after impressive displays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). In the last match for the Aussie pair before Wednesday's T20 World Cup squad announcement, both men demonstrated their prowess with the bat for their respective sides.

Stoinis and David were both named in Australia's 15-man T20 World Cup squad which was announced on Wednesday, with veteran Steve Smith and young gun batter Jake Fraser-McGurk the most glaring omissions. Selectors confirmed that Mitchell Marsh would captain the Aussies in the showpiece tournament in the USA and the Caribbean, officially taking over from the now retired Aaron Finch.

Big-hitting batters Stoinis and David showed why they are so valuable in the IPL, with the former laying the platform for his Lucknow Super Giants to win by four wickets (with four balls remaining) after a well crafted half century when sent into bat at No.3. Stoinis also took a sharp catch and bowled a tidy spell after David bludgeoned an unbeaten 35 off just 18 balls to give some respectability to the Mumbai Indians' score of 7-144.

LSG's Australian coach and former national mentor Justin Langer praised the "big game" pedigree of Stonis and labelled him a match-winner in a glowing endorsement for the T20 World Cup. "He has been a real matchwinner," Langer said about Stoinis. "In T20, in big tournaments, match-winners are crucial if you are going to keep progressing. He's showing that presence at the top of the order. He took a good catch too. He's playing well."

Marcus Stoinis shines for LSG in timely World Cup reminder

Stoinis opened the bowling for LSG and took three overs in the power play to maximise his chances of swing. And he conceded just 19 runs, dismissing Suryakumar Yadav for 10 after the Mumbai danger man gloved one down leg side and was caught behind. "It is nice to bowl with the new ball," Stoinis said. "For someone who is not as quick I can try and shift the ball in the air and have another dimension to my bowling. It is a nice role."

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Stoinis also caught Rohit Sharma for four runs at short cover to leave Mumbai reeling at 4-28 at the end of the six-over power play. Nehal Wadhera steadied the innings with 46 runs in 41 balls before David's late pyrotechnics with the bat picked up Mumbai's run rate and gave Lucknow a somewhat trickier total to chase down. David's explosive late cameo included three boundaries and one six, with both he and Stoinis showing why opposition sides should fear them at the T20 World Cup.

David's big-hitting late cameo never really looked like being enough for Mumbai, despite the wicket of Arshin Kulkarni for a golden duck in the first over. That brought Stoinis to the crease and the Aussie was fortunate to inside-edge one to the boundary off a tricky ball from Jasprit Bumrah.

Hardik Pandya surprisingly took Bumrah off and Stoinis took on a pair of short balls from Gerald Coetzee to get his innings going. KL Rahul - fresh from being omitted from India's T20 World Cup squad - blasted 20 runs off the next over, before Stoinis continued the onslaught when Bumrah returned to bowl - smashing the quick back over his head for six.

Rahul (28 off 22) was brilliantly caught by Mohammad Nabi, leaving the Super Giants needing a fairly comfortable 86 from 76 balls to secure victory. Stoinis settled down to manage the innings, picking off the occasional four but mainly pushing ones and twos. Stoinis reached his 50 off 39 balls and was on 62 when he was caught on the ropes going for another six, but his LSG still got home comfortably to move into third with 12 points in the standings.

Steve Smith and Jake Fraser-McGurk not picked for World Cup

While Stoinis and David will be delighted with their inclusion in Australia's T20 World Cup squad, the likes of Fraser-McGurk and Smith will be bitterly disappointed. Fans have been clamouring for Fraser-McGurk to be included after his three half-centuries in just six innings in the IPL, while Smith has not missed a World Cup for Australia in any format since 2012.

Australia's T20 World Cup squad

Mitch Marsh (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa.

with AAP