NEW DELHI: The absence of Josh Hazlewood will come as a relief for Indian batters seeking redemption, but the continued exclusion of left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh has left many puzzled ahead of the third T20 International against Australia in Hobart on Sunday.

Hazlewood's trademark precision and ability to extract awkward bounce around the corridor of uncertainty had posed serious challenges for India's top order in the previous games.

'If you want to experiment, rest Bumrah': Ashwin fumes over Arshdeep Singh's repeated omission

With the Ashes set to begin later this month, the Australian spearhead has been rested to recuperate before the demanding five-Test series - ruling him out of the remainder of the T20I series against India.

"It would obviously be a relief. I have never faced such bowling," star opener Abhishek Sharma had said after the Melbourne game as he seemed to be in awe of the Aussie speedster.

Hazlewood's absence also means a slight sense of relief for India's batters, many of whom have struggled against sharp bounce and seam movement. Facing Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, or Sean Abbott should offer a more manageable challenge compared to the Australian ace’s probing spells.

Both captain Suryakumar Yadav and captain-in-waiting Shubman Gill have found the extra bounce testing at times, and they will be eager to recapture the fluent rhythm they displayed in the series opener at Canberra, where both looked in commanding touch.

Abhishek Sharma left in awe of Hazlewood’s spell in 2nd T20I vs Australia

The Bellerive Oval at the Hobart is one ground where the side boundaries are smaller in size and hence the length would be paramount considering anything short would be flying over cover, point, square leg or mid-wicket on either side of the fence.

Bellerive Oval is the ground where the phenomenon of Virat Kohli as a champion ODI batter took shape back in 2012 when he played a masterful knock of 133 not out in 86 balls against Sri Lanka in a chase of 321. Bellerive Oval track has traditionally been a belter for white ball games.

This is also the BBL home ground for pacer Ellis, who happens to captain local franchise Hobart Hurricanes.

Curious case of Arshdeep Singh

The Indian team management's obsession with batting depth has been a topic of discussion on this tour and some of the batting failures like a paltry total of 125 at the MCG does question the merit of such a strategy.

On a pitch with extra bounce, India went in with three spinners and once again Arshdeep didn't find place in the playing XI despite being the only Indian bowler with 100 T20I wickets.

"If Jasprit Bumrah is playing, then Arshdeep Singh's name should be second on the list. If Bumrah is not playing, Arshdeep Singh's name would be first on the list," Ravichandran Ashwin had said on his Hindi YouTube channel and he couldn't have been more blunt.

In fact, a look at the statistics suggests that often India's No. 8 in the past 15 to 20 games has faced an average of five balls per innings and hence whether it is a viable option is being questioned repeatedly.

There is a school of thought that when one stacks the team with too many batter, each one at the top of the order feels that there is someone who is coming after me and the approach is more cavalier on tracks which warrants a bit more discretion while batting.

Even if one considers that Harshit is a capable batter, which he certainly is, some of the numbers during the second game would certainly be an eye opener.

Harshit scored 35 off 33 balls, with three fours and a six.

If one takes out 18 runs scores through boundaries in four balls, the beefy all-rounder from Delhi managed 17 off 29 balls and at one stage wasted deliveries keeping Abhishek Sharma stranded at the other end.

It is now understood that Harshit features firmly in head coach Gambhir's plans and is a non-negotiable entity as far as current playing elevens are concerned but his bowling has been inconsistent to say the least.

But at Hobart, where the open area on one side will aid swing bowling, India would do well to think of sacrificing one spin bowling option at the altar of playing Arshdeep.

Squads:

India: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Arshdeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar.

Australia: Mitchell Marsh (c), Sean Abbott (games 1-3), Xavier Bartlett, Mahli Beardman (games 3-5), Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis (games 4-5), Nathan Ellis, Glenn Maxwell (games 3-5), Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Mitchell Owen, Josh Philippe, Tanveer Sangha, Matthew Short, and Marcus Stoinis

Match Starts at: 1:45 pm IST.

(With PTI Inputs)