Mitchell Marsh, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins' injury fears exposed as India star reveals Australia’s T20 WC weaknesses

Former Indian player Aakash Chopra has observed that the Australian team travelling to India for the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 have their biggest known weakness in the form of potential injuries to their marquee players like skipper Mitchell Marsh, Pat Cummins, and Josh Hazlewood.

Australia have been gravely affected by injuries, and any further announcement has scared the Australian selectors. They already have a set of injuries in the form of Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, as their availability is yet to be confirmed by Cricket Australia, and as of now, they are only on the way to recovery.

Alongside the two stars, the situation further worsened, as Marcus Stoinis, the all-rounder, also faced an injury scare during a BBL game. However, his scans were later normal, and the player was cleared to continue in the BBL, thus keeping his ICC T20 World Cup participation on track.

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"The biggest weakness I see is that too many players are injury-prone" - Aakash Chopra

Former Indian player Aakash Chopra, on his YouTube channel, has spoken about the potential injuries in the Australian camp and has considered them to be their biggest known weakness at the moment.

He highlighted the fact that, alongside players like Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Marcus Stoinis, their skipper, Mitchell Marsh, is also highly prone to injuries.

"The biggest weakness I see is that too many players are injury-prone. Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Cameron Green and Glenn Maxwell are being spoken about. There are too many people. Marsh is himself so injury-prone," he said through his YouTube channel.

"They are walking on eggshells. They are just one injury away from getting everything wrong. So you can definitely call it one of this team's weaknesses because no one can control injuries," he observed.

Aakash Chopra feels Mitchell Starc's retirement could affect death bowling for the Mitchell Marsh-led Australian side

In Aakash Chopra's opinion, the Mitchell Marsh-led Australian side could have immense troubles with pace bowling at the death, since Mitchell Starc, the seasoned campaigner, is no longer part of the Australian contingent travelling to Sri Lanka for the tournament.

"Death bowling could be a bit of a concern. Josh Hazlewood might manage the new ball, Pat Cummins will come in the middle, but they will miss Mitchell Starc later. A bowler like Starc is not there in the World T20," he said.

Australia's two other dependable options in death bowling are Nathan Ellis and Josh Hazlewood; however, Ellis has never felt the heat and pressure of a World Cup game before, and Hazlewood might succumb to his injuries, for which he is not yet cleared.

"He (Starc) could always be the stark difference, but his absence will put slightly more pressure on Nathan Ellis and a lot of attention on Josh Hazlewood's fitness. They will get stuck then. They won't be able to get that job done from Xavier Bartlett and all at the World Cup level," Chopra observed.

Australia lack Josh Inglis' backup and a second reliable spinner, Aakash Chopra opined

The former player for India also mentioned that the Aussies are completely without any backup for Josh Inglis, the only wicket-keeper in the side. Earlier, speculations had claimed that in case of an unavoidable injury, Glenn Maxwell could be used as a wicket-keeper.

Chopra also acknowledged that the Mitchell Marsh-led side has a stunning spinner in the form of Adam Zampa, Australia's leading wicket-taker in T20Is. However, he has not had the same confidence in the likes of Cooper Connolly or Matthew Kuhnemann, the other spinners in the side.

The Indian subcontinent will offer spin-favouring tracks, and for every team, their spinners will be playing a massive role. Hence, it seems evident that any injury could derail the campaign for the Mitchell Marsh-led side.

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