Josh Hazlewood ruled out of T20 World Cup

Australia pacer Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, to be held in Sri Lanka and India, after running out of time to regain full fitness for the latter stages of the tournament.

Australia selector Tony Dodemaide said the management had been hopeful of Hazlewood's return by the Super 8 stage but felt the risks outweighed the rewards. "We were hopeful Josh would be back to match fitness by the Super 8 stage but the latest indications he is still some time away and accelerating his program will carry too much risk."

Australia will not name a replacement immediately, with selectors opting to reassess based on conditions and requirements as the tournament progresses.

"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.

Hazlewood had earlier been expected to arrive late in Sri Lanka, continuing his recovery from an Achilles injury in Sydney. He has last played in the ODI and T20I series against India in October 2025. Hazlewood picked up the Achilles injury during his rehab for a hamstring strain that had ruled him out of the start of the Ashes, and the pacer ended up missing the entire series.

The news comes as another setback for Australia, who are also without Pat Cummins for the tournament. The Test and ODI skipper has been recovering from a back injury that has limited his participation in recent months, including the Ashes. He played in only the Adelaide Test against England, after featuring in the WTC final against South Africa and the Test series against West Indies in June-July 2025.

There was positive news on the fitness front for Nathan Ellis and Tim David, who are both on track to be available for the group stage, while Adam Zampa is expected to be available for the opening match in Colombo next week.

Australia's preparation for the T20 World Cup suffered a minor setback after their practice match against the Netherlands was abandoned, but the team still has a six-day window to prepare before their first pool fixture against Ireland.

Mitchell Marsh, the T20I skipper, remained upbeat about the pace attack despite the absence of big names.

"One of the great things about Pat and Josh especially, all being three-format players, is that 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 (the other pacers) to go out there and do the job when required and then we'll just pick teams based on the conditions.

"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.

"Over the last 18 months, I feel we've been one of the most consistent sides in the world. We come to this World Cup really confident, knowing that conditions will be different at times, but we've got guys that have experienced that all over the world. So we look forward to the challenge of playing against everyone," added Marsh.