Australia announces final squad for T20 WC; Pat Cummins ruled out

On Saturday, January 31, Cricket Australia announced that Pat Cummins has been ruled out of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 campaign due to his ongoing back injury, which has haunted him for more than six months.

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Furthermore, Matthew Short has also been omitted from the squad, with pacer Ben Dwarshuis receiving a late call-up. On the other hand, Matthew Renshaw has also been included in the revised squad, replacing Short.

"With Pat needing more time to recover from his back injury, Ben is a ready replacement who offers a left arm pace option as well as dynamic fielding and late order hitting," Australia selector Tony Dodemaide said.

"We believe his ability to swing the ball at a good pace, along with clever variations, will be well-suited to the conditions we expect and overall structure of the squad. Matt (Renshaw) has impressed in all formats of late, including in multiple roles in white ball formats for Australia, Queensland Bulls and Brisbane Heat,” Tony added.

"With the top order settled and spin-heavy conditions expected in the pool stages in Sri Lanka, we also feel Matt provides extra middle-order support, with Tim David completing his return-to-play program in the early phase of the tournament. As a left-hander, he (Renshaw) also offers a point of difference to the middle order batting,” Tony concluded.

Australia will play the third and final T20 international against Pakistan in Lahore, after losing the initial two fixtures, before their World Cup opening game against Ireland on February 11 in Colombo. Australia are yet to name any travelling reserves for the tournament.

Australia squad for ICC T20 World Cup 2026: Mitch Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis, Cameron Green, Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Renshaw, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa.

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