Australia’s depleted pace attack for the T20 World Cup was further weakened with Josh Hazlewood ruled out of the tournament on Friday as he was “running out of time” to recover from a hamstring injury.
The development is a big setback since the team was optimistic about Hazlewood’s availability from the Super Eights till a couple of days ago.
“We were hopeful Josh would be back to match fitness by the Super 8s, but the latest indications he is still some time away and accelerating his programme will carry too much risk,” selector Tony Dodemaide said. “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.”
Australia will not have the services of senior pacers Mitchell Starc (retired from T20Is) and Pat Cummins (injury). But not naming a replacement immediately appears to be a smart move as it allows for all options to be open.
Australia have a few other injury concerns. Among them, pacer Nathan Ellis and big-hitter Tim David are expected to be available at some point in the group stages, while spinner Adam Zampa is fit for their first match itself.
