T20 World Cup 2026: Australia suffer massive blow as Pat Cummins has been ruled out due to an injury

T20 World Cup 2026: Australia suffered a massive injury blow ahead of the start of the T20 World Cup 2026 as bowling spearhead Pat Cummins has been ruled out of the tournament. Cummins, who captained the victorious ODI World Cup 2023 squad, has not fully recovered from the lingering back injury and will miss the marquee tournament scheduled to start on February 7. Subsequently, Ben Dharshuis has been picked in the 15-member Aussie squad.The absence of Cummins could severely hurt the 2021 champions as the player not only guarantees consistent performance with the ball but is also a prominent leadership figure in the team.Pat Cummins could not recover in timeAlso, top-order batter Matthew Short has been snubbed from the official 15-player squad. Short was listed in the initial provisional squad, but Matthew Renshaw has been named in the final list instead of him.Selector Tony Dodemaide said: "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.Cummins had initially been named in Australia's provisional squad."We believe his ability to swing the ball at 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, the Queensland Bulls and the Brisbane Heat."The trio of Josh Hazlewood, Tim David and Nathan Ellis have cleared the fitness test for the month-long T20 showpiece.Hazlewood sustained a hamstring and Achilles injury prior to the Ashes and has remained out of action since then. About David, he missed most of the Big Bash League (BBL) and the Pakistan series due to a hamstring injury. The injury issues struck Ellis as well. He missed the BBL and the Pakistan tour with a hamstring niggle."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." Australia is currently playing a three-game T20 Series against Pakistan in Lahore before leaving for Sri Lanka for the pool stages of the World Cup.The T20 World Cup will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka from February 7 to March 8.Australian squad: Mitchell 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.With PTI inputs