Usman Khawaja believes Steve Smith’s omission from the T20 World Cup squad – and the subsequent debate – is a sign of the game’s health.

Smith and Jake Fraser-McGurk were overlooked in the 15-man squad for the tournament, which gets underway in the USA and the Carribbean next week. All of Australia’s matches are in the Carribbean.

While Smith has undoubtedly struggled for form in the shorter forms of the game, Josh Hazlewood said his omission would be felt across the team.

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Former Test skipper Mark Taylor said he will be missed most when the Aussies get a slow pitch – commonplace in the Carribbean.

But speaking to Wide World of Sports, Khawaja said selection was never going to please everyone, and much more goes into the decisions than the public understand.

“There’s a lot of things that go into cricket … there’s a lot of nuances the general public probably just don’t understand as well as the selectors or as the people playing,” he said.

“There’s so much going on, no-one’s ever going to be fully happy. It’s just a part and parcel of the game, and creates headlines and sells newspapers. 

“It’s not an easy job, but at the end of the day, that’s always a good sign because if you’re having trouble leaving players out, it means you’ve got a healthy, strong system with strong players all vying for spots.”

Fraser-McGurk has been in sensational form in the IPL, while Smith has been able to dig Australia out of holes on countless occasions.

Khawaja said dropping his Test opening partner was a big call in some respects, but a relatively straightforward one in others.

“He’s been such a great player for such a long time, but it was always one of those cases where you have to look at team balance, and it was getting harder to figure out,” Khawaja said.

“You had Marsh, Head, and Warner up the top and then you sort of have to figure out ‘well, where do you want to put Smudge? Four?’

“Is that his best position, or do you think he’s better at the top?

“I’m sure the decision wasn’t made lightly – Smudge had been such a terrific player for such a long time (but) it’s just the progression of the game.

“It’s never easy to fit 15 players, and I’m sure it was a very hard decision in a lot of respects.

“But it’s a good time for the Australian cricket team – there’s a lot of players putting their hands up for batting spots.”

It was the same situation for Fraser-McGurk.

“When you get into a pressure situation of a tournament, you would always want a little bit more experience than not. 

“I think Fraser is probably only going be a chance to bat in one of the opening slots the way he’s going at the moment … so who do you leave out? Warner or Head? 

“Heady’s been on fire, then you’ve got someone like Dave who’s got the experience. 

“You don’t want to leave experience out when it comes to World Cup situations – you play clutch matches, you play do-or-die matches and experience normally always trumps that. 

“I think at the moment, it’s just about him biding his time.”

Khawaja is the official Prime Video ICC Men’s T20 World Cup ambassador.

Each game of the T20 World Cup, including all of Australia’s matches, will be exclusively live on Amazon Prime.

Australia begins its T20 World Cup campaign against Oman on June 6 (AEST).