Australia’s pace spearhead, Pat Cummins, will miss the upcoming T20 World Cup due to an ongoing back injury. Cricket Australia finalized their 15-member squad for the tournament, making two changes to the provisional team. Cummins, who has been sidelined since July with a lumbar stress injury, has not fully recovered, leading to his exclusion from the squad.
In addition to Cummins, top-order batter Matthew Short has also been left out of the original squad. However, Josh Hazlewood, who missed the Ashes series due to injuries, has been included in the T20 World Cup squad. Tim David, who missed the Pakistan tour, has also made a comeback to the team.
Mitchell Marsh will lead the team, which includes a spin-heavy group featuring players like Adam Zampa, Glenn Maxwell, and Matt Renshaw. Despite Cummins’s absence, the fast bowling unit remains strong with Hazlewood at the forefront, supported by Nathan Ellis, Xavier Bartlett, and Ben Dwarshuis, who replaced Cummins in the squad.
Australia, placed in Group B, will face Ireland, Oman, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe in the group stage matches to be held in Sri Lanka. Their campaign begins on February 11 against Ireland in Colombo. Currently, the team is engaged in a T20I series against Pakistan, where they lost the first match under Mitchell Marsh’s captaincy.
