3 min readUpdated: Feb 6, 2026 10:37 AM IST
Australia have been handed another major injury blow just days out from the T20 World Cup, with pace spearhead Josh Hazlewood ruled out of the tournament due to his hamstring concerns. The 2021 champions, who had lost seamer Pat Cummins to injury earlier this week, will now enter the tournament with only two fit pacemen in Ben Dwarshuis and Xavier Bartlett.
“We were hopeful Josh would be back to match fitness by the Super Eights stage but the latest indications (are) he is still some time away,” Dodemaide said. “Trying to accelerate his program will carry too much of a risk,” CA selector Todd Dodemaide was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.
Australia decided against a replacement player just yet even as seam all-rounder Sean Abbott is part of the contingent as a travelling reserve.
“We will not be naming a replacement player immediately. We feel we are well covered for the initial games so will make any later decisions based on priority need at the time,” Dodemaide added.
The absence of Hazlewood and Cummins, together with Mitchell Starc – who retired from T20Is last year – marks this World Cup as the first major ICC tournament the trio have missed since March 2011.
Skipper Mitchell Marsh recently spoke about Australia’s depth even as they are missing out on several fast bowlers due to injuries. With their group stage fixtures being played entirely in Sri Lanka, starting February 11, Australia will rely on the spin tank led by Matt Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell and Cooper Connolly.
“We’ve been able to build a lot of depth within our squad, and the guys that have come in have played a lot of cricket for our group,” Marsh said. “So we’ve got a lot of confidence in them to go out there and do the job when required and then we’ll just pick teams based on the conditions.
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“Matthew Kuhnemann has been great for us. We’ve also got Adam Zampa and then we’ve got a few spinning allrounders, like most teams will. So I think we’ve got all bases covered and now it’s just about getting stuck into it.”
Australia squad: Mitch Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis, Cameron Green, Nathan Ellis, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Renshaw, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa. Travelling reserve: Sean Abbott
