After being named in the provisional Australia’s T20 World Cup squad, Pat Cummins has been ruled out after failing to fully recover from the back injury he suffered in July 2025.
Owing to poor domestic and international form, Matthew Short was dropped from the final squad and replaced by Matt Renshaw, who was picked due to a lack of left-handers in the squad and is believed to be better equipped to handle spin in the middle overs in Sri Lanka.
Australia’s T20 World Cup squad: The Replacements
From the provisional squad announced at the beginning of the month, Pat Cummins and Matthew Short were the only notable exclusions from the final squad.
Despite playing the 3rd Ashes Test, the Australian test captain was ruled out from the remaining two tests in order to recover from his injury fully. However, he was unable to do so.
Cummins was replaced by Ben Dwarshius in the squad, who was initially hard done by being selected only as a travelling reserve despite having good numbers in the BBL and being a regular part of the squad for the last year or so.
On the other hand, Short had an underwhelming Big Bash, scoring 280 runs at a strike rate of 132.70, including 3 fifties.
His replacement, on the other hand, made the most of his opportunities, striking at 153.55, including a century in a chase of 257, with an overall tally of 324 runs.
Despite making his T20I debut in the 1st T20 against Pakistan, Renshaw’s ability to handle spin was also a reason for his selection. Earlier, he was impressive against the Indian spinners in Australia’s ODI series win.
Australia’s T20 World Cup squad: Who said what?
In regard to these latest developments, Australian 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.”
“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 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.”
What does the squad look like now?
Meanwhile, Tim David, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Ellis have been passed fit and will feature for Australia in the upcoming marquee tournament.
Tim David and Ellis picked up an injury during the BBL and were in a race against time to be fit, but were named in the provisional squad and passed their fitness tests.
Hazlewood, meanwhile, suffered an Achilles injury after playing the first two Ashes tests but is now raring to go, being a mainstay of the Australia T20 World Cup squad.
Moreover, despite having an excellent BBL, Steve Smith was unable to make it to the 15-member squad. Since featuring in an international T20I for Australia, the right-hander played 25 innings across the MLC, the Hundred and Big Bash, scoring 2 centuries and 6 fifties, striking at 156.19.
These stats were not enough to grant a place to the legendary test batter in the Australia T20 World Cup squad.
Final squad: Mitchell Marsh (C), Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis, Cameron Green, Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (WK), Matt Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Renshaw, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa.
