Australia Coach Throws Players Under The Bus For Shambolic T20 World Cup Group Stage Exit

Australia head coach blames players for group stage exit [Source: AFP]

Australia entered the T20 World Cup 2026 with little to no expectations due to their injury-related issues, but no one expected them to crash out of the tournament in the group stage. The Aussies were placed in a tricky group involving Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, and the former champions lost to both teams.

Despite not having several key players in the side, the team failed to deliver the goods against the opposition, and their poor T20 World Cup journey continued. The team will play its last group stage match against Oman on Friday, and a win there will be a consolation for a rather underwhelming performance.

McDonald dismisses 'Australia doesn't take T20 WC seriously' claims

Former Australian cricketers have criticised the team for not taking the tournament seriously and going in underprepared for the marquee event. However, head coach of the team, Andrew McDonald, has dismissed all narratives and stated that the team was fully locked in for the event.

"I have heard that sort of narrative that T20 World Cups don't matter to us," as quoted by Daily Sun.

"I think all that is a response to the performances of Australian cricket teams in these competitions.

"We won in 2021 and we haven't been as successful since then. The expectations on the Australian cricket team are high -- and rightfully so.

"But to sit back and say that we're prioritising other formats or other versions of the game and not the T20 World Cup is entirely false."

McDonald blames players for shambolic performance

Before the T20 World Cup even started, Australia suffered multiple injury blows to their pace department, with the experienced Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins ruled out. This left a void in the side as the bowlers lacked the experience at the big stage.

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Experts believed that the absence of key players was one of the main reasons for Australia’s early exit, but McDonald differed from the comments and blamed the current batch for not performing in the marquee event.

"It should be looking at the performances and we're disappointed in those. We need to own those and the critique is fair and reasonable."

Does Australia actually take T20 World Cup lightly?

Australia is perhaps the greatest Cricketing nation of all-time, having won a WTC Championship and six 50-over World Cups. The side has dominated the ODIs and Tests, but for some reason, they have been underwhelming in the T20 World Cups.

In the inaugural edition, they reached the semis, but lost against India. In the following edition, the Kangaroos had an underwhelming stint as they crashed out of the group stage.

In 2010, the team were the runners up, but lost against England, and in 2012, they once again reached the semis. In the 2014, and 2016 editions, the Aussies finished inside the Super 10 stage, but the breakthrough came in 2021 when, under Aaron Finch, the side clinched their maiden title.

The last three editions have been underwhelming as Australia reached the Super 12 stage in 2022, Super 8 in 2024, and crashed out of the group stage in 2026.

Such performances does indicate that the team lacks the cutting-edge to deliver the goods in the game’s shortest format.

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