Australia suffer fresh Josh Hazlewood blow, 2 more bowlers go down ahead of T20 World Cup 2026

Australia's ICC T20 World Cup 2026 campaign has taken a major blow with Josh Hazlewood's return pushed back further. Alongside the absence of the premier pacer, Nathan Ellis' recovery is also delayed, though he has arrived in Sri Lanka for the T20 World Cup group-stage games starting from February 11th.

Australia's T20 World Cup campaign has been troubled by a series of injuries, with a recovery still not on track. Josh Hazlewood is one of the key players; however, other names yet to return from an injury include Nathan Ellis, Tim David, Glenn Maxwell and even Adam Zampa.

Adam Zampa, the legendary Australian spinner who was their hope going into the sub-continent, had to carefully manage the neck injury issues in the BBL and has now faced another groin niggle. He did not complete his quota of overs in the last T20I against Pakistan and also did not come out to bat. However, Mitchell Marsh later claimed the move was just precautionary due to the upcoming World Cup.

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Josh Hazlewood's return to T20Is delayed; Sean Abbott named as travelling reserve for ICC T20 World Cup

Australia have arrived in Colombo after having completed the series against Pakistan. They, however, do not have their most credible seamer, and the only one playing among their big three, Mitchell Starc (retired), Pat Cummins (injured and ruled out) and Josh Hazlewood.

Josh Hazlewood is not only one of the finest T20I bowlers for Australia, but also, alongside Nathan Ellis, would form one of the cores for an Australian attack, which can then be backed with spinners and all-rounders in the side.

Hazlewood is, however, still in Australia and is rehabilitating from the Achilles injury that ruined his entire Ashes summer. As of now, it is also unclear whether he will be able to arrive in Sri Lanka in time to participate in Australia's T20 World Cup campaign.

"We felt with Josh it was more practical and beneficial for him to continue his rehabilitation at home in a familiar environment before travelling to Sri Lanka," selector Tony Dodemaide said.

In his place, Sean Abbott has been picked as a travelling reserve with the Australian contingent. Abbott was part of the recent T20I series against Pakistan, and with so many pacers suffering from injuries, his inclusion seems to be a backup plan.

"With Nathan also completing his return to play, we decided to bring Sean with us as fast bowling cover should anything come up at short notice … It made sense for him to stay with the group following the Pakistan tour," added Tony Dodemaide.

Australia's group-stage fixtures give more time for the return of veteran stars

The only positive for Australia in this upcoming ICC T20 World Cup is that they are placed alongside some of the weaker sides. They will start their campaign on the 11th of February, which gives their players some additional time to recover.

Also, their first two games include the matches against the 11th-ranked Ireland and 12th-ranked Zimbabwe, which will not require players like Josh Hazlewood or Tim David, and they can be spared some time before they make a comeback from injuries.

Also, with the fourth game against 20th-ranked Oman, Australia can consider the result of their match against co-hosts Sri Lanka as meaningless, as they can walk through to the next stage, irrespective of the results, since it can be anticipated that the 2nd-ranked Aussies will win the remaining three games.

Australia will have to counter the spinning tracks in Sri Lanka

On the batting front, Australia's campaigns have been deeply affected by their lack of quality batting against spinners. They have lost 22 wickets in the recent series against Pakistan to spinners, on tracks that seemed to be fairly inclined towards the tricksters.

Sri Lanka would also be offering similar conditions, and Australia have to manage their way out to arrive in India for the next stage, where they will face tougher opposition in the West Indies, South Africa, India and New Zealand.

The only positive has been Cameron Green's good form. However, Josh Inglis played just a single game, and so did Marcus Stoinis, while Glenn Maxwell and Tim David will join the squad in the T20 World Cup.

"We know that conditions can spin in Sri Lanka, and we'll assess that when we get there. We also we've got some extremely good players of spin coming back and (some) experience coming back," claimed captain Mitchell Marsh.

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