Josh Hazlewood out of T20 World Cup 2026 [Source: X]In a significant development, Australia's experienced fast bowler Josh Hazlewood has officially been ruled out of the T20 World Cup 2026 due to injury. On Friday morning, Cricket Australia announced that Hazlewood wouldn't feature in the marquee event, failing to recover from a hamstring injury in time. However, the Australian board hasn't announced a replacement for Josh Hazlewood. So, either Xavier Bartlett or Ben Dwarshuis are expected to take up his place in the Australian playing XI. Josh Hazlewood out of T20 World Cup with injuryExperienced speedster Josh Hazlewood thus becomes the second Australian pacer after Pat Cummins to be ruled out of the T20 World Cup due to injury. Recently, Cummins was sidelined from the tournament amid a persistent back issue that also shortened his Ashes 2025-26 campaign against a visiting English team on home soil. It's worth mentioning that Hazlewood was also ruled out from the Ashes, with the injury preventing him from playing a single match in the historic Test series. Although Cricket Australia tried to manage his workload and make him available for the showpiece event, Hazlewood's fitness status eventually shattered his T20 World Cup 2026 dream. Cricket Australia reacts to Josh Hazlewood's injuryAustralia's national selector Tony Dodemaide revealed that the board anticipated Hazlewood to receive fitness clearance before the Super Eights stage. However, unfortunately, the fast bowler is far from recovery and it would've been a risky move to rush him back into cricketing action. "We were hopeful Josh would be back to match fitness by the Super Eights stage but the latest indications (are) he is still some time away. Trying to accelerate his program will carry too much of a risk," Tony Dodemaide was quoted as saying by Cricket.com.au. "We will not be naming a replacement player immediately. We feel we are well covered for the initial games so will make any later decisions based on priority need at the time," he added. Why is Josh Hazlewood's injury a huge setback for Australia?Josh Hazlewood was expected to spearhead the Australian bowling attack in T20 World Cup 2026 after Mitchell Starc's retirement. The right-arm pacer is inarguably one of the finest T20I bowlers in modern-day cricket, having bagged 21 wickets in the format since 2025. Besides troubling the batters with his accuracy and ability to generate movement off the deck, Hazlewood could've also emerged as a potent bowling weapon in the slog overs, the most difficult phase to bowl in T20Is. Therefore, Australia will undoubtedly miss his services and hope that the likes of Nathan Ellis and Ben Dwarshuis punch above their weight during the showpiece event. What could be Australia's pace attack in Hazlewood's unavailability?Given that Australia will play their group stage matches in Sri Lanka, they might pick two frontline spinners- Matthew Kuhnemann and Adam Zampa- in their playing XI to capitalise on the spin-friendly conditions. However, if they decide otherwise, Xavier Bartlett and Ben Dwarshuis might be seen opening the bowling, with Nathan Ellis playing as Australia's death-overs specialist.
