There’d be no Pat Cummins for Australia come the T20 World Cup 2026 as the Australian Test captain has failed to recover from his recurring injury. Instead, Australia have added Ben Dwarshuis as Cummins’ replacement. Meanwhile, the T20 World Cup 2021 winners have also made a desperate change by replacing Matthew Short with Matthew Renshaw owing to former’s poor form.
Hazlewood, David and Ellis pass; Cummins fails to make it
January 31 is the deadline for the teams to name their respective squads for the all-important T20 World Cup 2026. While Australia named their team at New Year’s day, they have made slight tweaks.
Fortunately, all three of Josh Hazlewood, Tim David and Nathan Ellis are all cleared to play. Hazlewood didn’t play a single Ashes Test as he recovered from hamstring and Achilles injuries. David, after playing a part in taking RCB to their maiden IPL championship, missed most of the Big Bash League and the ongoing Pakistan vs Australia series due to a hamstring injury. Ellis, who will be one of the most important players for Australia, missed the BBL finals and the Pakistan tour with a hamstring niggle as well.
Cummins, who played just one international game since July 2025, was even ready to miss some group stage matches for Australia. However, he hasn’t been able to be fully fit from his back injury. The SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) captain will be fit by the time IPL 2026 comes in March, however.
Why Renshaw over Short?
Matt Renshaw has replaced Matt Short incidentally. While Short would’ve ideally missed out on the playing XI since the openers are Travis Head and captain Mitchell Marsh. However, Short has averaged just 24.36 at a strike rate of 128.61 since July 2025. There was a chance to include Steve Smith as well but Australia have decided to include a lefty in Renshaw. The talented batter has been consistent in Australia domestic tournaments and has made 339 runs at 33.9 and 152.7 in T20s in last 12 months.
“Matt has impressed in all formats of late, including in multiple roles in white-ball formats for Australia, the Queensland Bulls and the Brisbane Heat. 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 programme 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 squad for T20 World Cup 2026
Mitchell Marsh (capt), Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis, Cameron Green, Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matt Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Renshaw, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa
In: Matt Renshaw, Ben Dwarshuis
Out: Pat Cummins, Matthew Short
