Last Updated on 2 months ago by Charbel Coorey
Australia’s concerns continue to grow with Josh Hazlewood ruled out of the T20 World Cup. Hazlewood missed the entire Ashes series due to hamstring and achilles injuries, and the latter has not healed in time even for an appearance later in the tournament.
Why is Josh Hazlewood out of the 2026 T20 World Cup?
Selector Tony Dodemaide, who was previously hopeful that Hazlewood would make it for the Super 8 stage should Australia qualify, said the pace bowler still has a lot of rehabilitation to go through.
“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. Trying to accelerate his program will carry too much of a risk,” he said, as quoted by cricket.com.au.
“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.”
Hazlewood’s injury is another episode in Australia’s shaky build up to the tournament. Pat Cummins has also been ruled out due to his back injury, leaving Xavier Bartlett and Ben Dwarshuis as the only two fit frontline pace bowlers currently in the squad.
Also, Tim David, Glenn Maxwell, Nathan Ellis and Adam Zampa are all managing injury concerns. However, Zampa is declared fit for Australia’s opener against Ireland.
All of Australia’s Group games will be held in Sri Lanka. They take on Ireland (February 11) and Zimbabwe (February 13) in Colombo before heading to Pallekele to play Sri Lanka (February 16) and Oman (February 20).
Assuming all the seeded teams qualify for the Super Eight stage, Australia will be grouped alongside India, South Africa and West Indies. The top two teams will then progress to the semi-finals.
In Sri Lankan conditions, Australia can afford to go spin-heavy. In India, quality pace bowling will be vital, especially at the death. Sean Abbott, who is currently the travelling reserve, seems likeliest to join the main squad.
