Steve Smith in Australia T20 World Cup squad; Josh Hazlewood's exit clears pathway

Steve Smith and Josh Hazlewood [Source: @imadkhanumarzai/x]Steve Smith might well find a place in Australia squad for the upcoming 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka. As the current situation stands, Josh Hazlewood was ruled out of the showpiece event amidst injury concerns.With his exclusion, Hazlewood has joined Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins, completing the absence of Australia’s champion pace trio from the ICC T20 World Cup 2026. Steve Smith finds hope as Australia lose champion pace trio Steve Smith has found hope again of finding a place in Australia’s T20I squad, albeit at an expense of longtime teammates Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood. With Hazlewood getting ruled out of the ICC T20 World Cup owing to his failure in attaining full recovery, a depleted Australian side might look back to its former captain for experience and stability. Interestingly, Josh Hazlewood was ruled out by Cricket Australia on February 6, i.e., just a day prior to the launch of the showpiece event in India and Sri Lanka. The speedster has not played a single competitive game of cricket ever since he injured his hamstring during the Sheffield Shield 2025-26 season a couple of months ago in Sydney. Earlier, legendary paceman Pat Cummins was also ruled out of the tournament owing to his injury. Mitchell Starc, on the other hand, confirmed his retirement from T20I cricket to focus on ODIs and Tests for Australia. When did Steve Smith last played T20Is for Australia? Australia’s modern-day great Steve Smith played the last of his 67 T20Is nearly two years ago against antipodean rivals New Zealand in Auckland. In 55 innings, the cricketer has aggregated 1,094 runs at a below par average of 24.86 and a strike rate of 125.45. Despite his underwhelming record in the format, Smith was part of the Australian team that lifted the 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE. Last month, the prolific right-hander justified a return call for Australia by storming Sydney Sixers into the BBL 2025-26 final. In just six innings of the tournament, the 36-year-old plundered 299 runs at an average of 59.80 and with a staggering strike rate of 167.97. Steve Smith also slapped a match-winning 42-ball century against Sydney Thunder on January 16. Australia to face Ireland first up The Australian cricket team, under the leadership of Mitchell Marsh, will kick off its 2026 ICC T20 World Cup campaign with a Group B match against Ireland. The match will be hosted by the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on February 11 and the action will commence from 3:00 PM IST onwards. The 2021 winners were recently blanked 0-3 by hosts Pakistan earlier this month heading into the showpiece event. The Australian team also lost its five-match T20I series to India late last year at home prior to the 2025-26 Ashes series. Regardless of Australia’s recent T20I woes, the side will still bank on its experience and depth to mount a strong challenge in the tournament.