National selectors have dumped Aaron Finch as skipper and dropped keeper Matthew Wade in a major re-shuffle for the upcoming Twenty20 World Cup.

Finch was included in a 15-man squad for the tournament – but Steve Smith was appointed captain as expected.

The major surprise was the inclusion of Peter Nevill, who is yet to play limited-overs cricket for Australia.

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Nevill could not get a game during the previous two Big Bash League seasons when Melbourne Renegades team-mate Wade was in their XI.

However, Wade’s recent form with the gloves and bat prompted chairman of selectors Rod Marsh to swing the axe before Australia’s World Cup campaign starts on March 18 in India.

“We feel our batting depth in this squad is sufficient enough that we can have a specialist wicketkeeper in the squad,” Marsh said.

“We want Australia’s best wicketkeeper playing in this tournament and we consider Peter Nevill to be the best in the country right now.”

Ashton Agar and Adam Zampa, both yet to play T20 cricket for Australia, claimed the spin spots in the touring party ahead of Nathan Lyon and Cameron Boyce.

“Given the conditions we are likely to face in India, we wanted to have a number of different spinning options available,” Marsh said.

“Ashton Agar, Adam Zampa and Glenn Maxwell give us plenty of flexibility in the slow-bowling department, which is incredibly important in this format.”

Cameron Boyce missed the squad. Photo: Getty

Josh Hazlewood will spearhead an attack chock-full of all-rounders, with Shane Watson, Mitch Marsh, James Faulkner and John Hastings all included.

Western Australian quicks Andrew Tye and Nathan Coulter-Nile both made the cut, as did in-form Test batsman Usman Khawaja.

Finch captained the national T20 side since October 2014 but has been replaced by Smith, with David Warner to serve as his deputy as is the case in the other two formats.

“Finch has done a very good job,” Marsh said.

“He will have benefited enormously from the leadership opportunity and will remain a highly respected leader within the Australian squad.

“Now is the right time for Steve to lead Australia in all three forms of the game as it offers us important continuity, not only ahead of the World T20, but beyond that tournament as well.”

Finch (hamstring), Coulter-Nile (shoulder) and Faulkner (hamstring) will all be assessed before the squad departs for a three-match T20 tour of South Africa on February 28.

“Aaron, Nathan and James are all very important players and we want them to be a part of this World T20 campaign,” Marsh said.

“We are hopeful that they will be able to take part in some form of competitive cricket before leaving for South Africa.”

T20 World Cup Squad: Usman Khawaja, David Warner, Shane Watson, Steve Smith (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Mitch Marsh, James Faulkner, John Hastings, Peter Nevill, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood, Aaron Finch, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Ashton Agar, Andrew Tye.