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Adam Zampa's Sheffield Shield performance shines light on Aussies' missed opportunity

image-le3pz2b3Adam Zampa puts in an impressive performance in Sheffield Shield game (Twitter)

Leg-spinner Adam Zampa has delivered a strong message to the national selectors with his standout performance in the Marsh Sheffield Shield game, having been snubbed twice for the Indian tour. The veteran player's emphatic reminder of his red-ball credentials has put the New South Wales (NSW) team in a strong position to secure their first victory of the season.

The rejection of Zampa's selection for the Indian tour, not once but twice, came as a surprise to many as the spinner had been doing everything right to make his Test debut, as he himself had stated. 

Adding insult to injury, selectors opted to replace Mitchell Swepson with the uncapped left-arm spinner Matt Kuhnemann, who now looks to be a contender for the second Test.

However, Zampa has taken the setback as a motivation and bowled exquisitely on the third day of the Shield game against Tasmania at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), taking 3-41 to bowl out the visitors for 236. This was a significant contribution to the NSW team, which had already reached 8/417 in their first innings, thanks to Daniel Hughes' impressive century, before declaring.

Despite having been considered a white-ball specialist,  Zampa has been striving to impress the selectors for the tour and returned to the NSW side in late 2022 after years. The experienced spinner is yet to make his Test debut, but his performance in the ongoing Shield game is a testament to his skills, proving his detractors wrong.

However, the question that continues to linger is whether Australia made an error in judgment by neglecting to include 30-year-old in their squad for the Indian tour.