(Cricket news) With the T20 World Cup just on the horizon and most of the teams having announced their squads, a common theme is occurring as the teams are focusing more on spinners than fast bowlers in the 15 member squads. The T20 World Cup shifted from India to UAE and Oman as it has certainly changed the outlook of the selectors as they think that spin to win will be the mantra for success in this year's T20 bonanza. If last year's IPL was any indication, we saw that most of the pitches were dry turning tracks and also in gulf countries the dry humid weather plays a big role in the batting conditions. Let us take a look at the different teams with their different spin options:

For India this department has raised the most number of eyebrows upon the announcement of the T20 World Cup squad as the return of Ravichandran Ashwin instead of seasoned white ball cricketer Chahal has been scrutinised by some experts.This move may actually turn to be a masterstroke as the off spinner has multiple variations including a developing leg break delivery which not only get you wickets in the UAE conditions but also keep the batsmen in check. The spinner that most likely will make the playing eleven is Rahul Chahar, this season in the IPL he is the fourth highest wicket taker with 11 wickets at an economy of 7.21 per over. The main reason the selectors chose him over Kuldeep Yadav and Chahal was because he bowls with a little more pace where the bowl might just skid off the slow turning tracks in UAE causing batsman some problems.The Indian selectors have also gone with Varun Chakravarthy as element of surprise as last year we saw in the IPL that batsman were getting bamboozled with his different variations as he picked up 17 wickets in the process.

Australia too have gone with three full-time spinners with different skill sets. Adam Zampa has been Australia's front line spinner for quite some time but the emergence of Ashton Agar has really helped Australia bolster their spin attack over the last few years. Cricket Australia has also chosen young leg spinner from Queenslander Mitchell Swepson as he really impressed the selectors in the recent tours of the West Indies and Bangladesh. "Mitchell has been impressive with the opportunities he has had. Given the amount of cricket being played at the World Cup venues, we expect the wickets in the UAE to favour slow bowling, particularly in the latter stages, so he gives us another strong leg-spin option” said Chief selector George Bailey.

South Africa were also quick to understand that spin is the way to go as they too have gone with three spin options. T20 no 1 bowler Tabraiz Shamsi will spearhead the spin attack for the Proteas as they have gone with uncapped left arm spinner Keshav Maharaj along with inexperienced spinner Bjorn Fortuin to lead their bowling attack.

Mark Boucher (Chief Selector of South Africa) believes “ If anything, it’s going to go even further into subcontinent conditions, on the extreme side. They are playing the IPL there, there are not a lot of grounds and those wickets are going to be worn, so scores will probably go even further down.” Boucher said batting will be tough on these pitches as spinners will hold the key.

Whereas teams like England and New Zealand have stuck to their strengths and opted to go for more fast bowling. They have both gone with one frontline spinner believing that the pitches will change drastically after the remainder of the IPL is played. Chris Silverwood, said: "We are excited about the prospect of challenging ourselves to win the ICC T20 World Cup. I believe we have selected a squad that covers all bases and has the depth to be successful in what is expected to be a very competitive tournament featuring the best players in the world”. 

Also read: England name preliminary squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup

It's going to be an interesting watch in this year's biggest T20 tournament as different teams are opting for different strategies but only time will tell us whose gamble will pay off but one thing is certain that the mind games between the nations competing have already begun.