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In a blow to the Australian fast bowling unit, which has battled injuries, pacer Josh Hazlewood is to miss out on the initial stages of the ICC T20 World Cup tournament and will continue his rehabilitation in Sydney for his Achilles issue, ESPNCricinfo reported on Monday.
Pacer Sean Abbott has been added as a travelling reserve to the squad, offering some decent batting power as well. Also, the trio of Glenn Maxwell, pacer Nathan Ellis and heavy-hitter Tim David, who missed the T20I series tour to Pakistan, will join the team on Sunday before they start their campaign against Ireland in Colombo on February 11. They are in Group B alongside Ireland, Oman, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. Initially, a hamstring issue had kept Hazlewood on the sidelines ahead of the Ashes series and during rehabilitation, an Achilles injury ruled him out of the series completely. As per the decision of Aussie selectors and the medical team, he will stay in Sydney with selector Tony Dodemaide and complete his rehabilitation. "We felt with Josh it was more practical and beneficial for him to continue his rehabilitation at home in a familiar environment before travelling to Sri Lanka," Dodemaide said as quoted by ESPNCricinfo. "With Nathan also completing his return to play, we decided to bring Sean with us as fast bowling cover should anything come up at short notice. "Sean is an accomplished and versatile international player who has experienced numerous World Cup campaigns. It made sense for him to stay with the group following the Pakistan tour." Australia already misses their ODI and Test captain Pat Cummins, one of their strongest leaders and accomplished bowlers across formats, having missed four of five Ashes Tests. While he was fully fit while playing the Adelaide Test, where he picked three wickets, he decided to miss the final two Tests to keep his legs fresh for the WC, but still "needs more time" to fully recover from his back issues. He has been replaced by bowling all-rounder Ben Dwarshuis. Also, opener Matthew Short was dropped from the initial squad and was replaced by Matt Renshaw. Hazlewood's delayed arrival, Ellis missing the Big Bash League (BBL) finals for Hobart Hurricanes, and Tim David's hamstring issues, which cut short his BBL stint and caused him to miss the Pakistan series, had Australia's injury concerns over the last few months. After the IPL, this is David's second hamstring injury in recent time. A broken ankle also caused Maxwell to be rested during the Pakistan tour. Also, the frontline spinner Adam Zampa could bowl only two overs in the final T20I at Lahore and could not bat due to "groin tightness", but Cricket Australia (CA) said that the move was "precautionary". -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, Sean Abbott (travelling reserve). (ANI)
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