Smith replaces injured Hazlewood in Australia's T20 World Cup squad

Steve Smith has officially been added to Australia's T20 World Cup 2026 squad as a replacement for the injured Josh Hazlewood.

Hazlewood was ruled out of the competition due to a calf injury, although the medical team had previously hoped to have him fit for the latter part of the tournament. Australia had not named an immediate replacement, but with Hazlewood now out, it has paved the way for Smith's comeback in T20Is.

Hazlewood was sidelined on February 5, with Australia selector Tony Dodemaide saying: "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."

However, Australia had to seek ICC to approve Smith as a replacement on February 15, a day ahead of their next fixture against co-hosts Sri Lanka in Pallekele.

Smith, 36, hasn't played a T20I since February 2024 and last featured in the T20 World Cup in the 2022 edition. In 14 innings at T20 World Cups, he has hit just one fifty, striking at 111.76.

However, his return to the shortest format has come on the back of a stellar BBL 2025-26 campaign, where he smashed 299 runs, averaging 59.80, and scoring at a strike-rate of 167.97. The tally included a century and two fifties. Opening the batting, he topped the run-charts for Sydney Sixers, playing a key role in their run to the final.

Overall, Smith has 1094 runs in T20Is, striking at 125.45, including five fifties.

Smith has been training with the squad after being called up as cover for Mitchell Marsh, who missed the first-two matches being hit in the groin area while training.

Australia are currently placed third in the Group B points table, winning against Ireland but losing to Zimbabwe in one of the upsets of the tournament so far. They face Sri Lanka next, with the subsequent fixture against Oman being their final of the group stage.

Updated Australia squad:Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis, Cameron Green, Nathan Ellis, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Renshaw, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa