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By Zeeshan Wal | 02 January 2026
Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood were picked on Thursday for Australia’s preliminary Twenty20 World Cup team, which has a lot of spin bowlers. This happened after injuries messed up their Ashes series. Cummins, the Test captain, only played one Ashes Test against England because he’s recovering from a back problem. Hazlewood, dealing with an Achilles issue, didn’t play at all.
Chief selector George Bailey said that Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Tim David are improving as expected and should be ready for the World Cup. He also mentioned that this is just an initial squad, so changes can be made before the official support period. Matt Kuhnemann and Cooper Connolly, both left-arm spinners, have been added to the mostly unchanged 15-man squad, joining main spinner Adam Zampa and part-time spinner Glenn Maxwell.
Australia’s group matches will be in Sri Lanka, where spin bowling is likely to be effective. Surprisingly, Australia didn’t pick a reserve wicketkeeper for Josh Inglis or a left-arm fast bowler to replace Mitchell Starc, who is no longer playing T20s.
The pace attack includes Cummins and Hazlewood, as well as Nathan Ellis and Xavier Bartlett, plus all-rounders Cameron Green and Marcus Stoinis – all right-handers. Bailey added that the T20 team’s recent success allowed them to select a balanced group of players suitable for the different conditions in Sri Lanka and India. Australia’s first match is on February 11 against Ireland in Colombo.
They will announce a separate team for a T20 series against Pakistan before the World Cup. The squad includes Mitchell Marsh (captain), Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Cameron Green, Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Short, Marcus Stoinis, and Adam Zampa.
