Sydney, Feb 6 (IANS) Australia suffered another injury blow as fast bowler Josh Hazlewood has been officially ruled out of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, starting on Saturday in Sri Lanka and India, after failing to recover in time for the showpiece event.

Hazlewood suffered a hamstring injury in the final Sheffield Shield game before the start of the Ashes. He was initially sidelined from the England series due to a hamstring strain, later developed an Achilles problem during his recovery.

Having not played a match since injuring his hamstring in the Sheffield Shield on November 12, Hazlewood was initially named in the World Cup squad despite him remaining in Sydney when the group assembled in Sri Lanka this week.

But just five days before Australia’s opening match against Ireland in Colombo on February 11, national selector Tony Dodemaide said the 35-year-old is still some time away from regaining full fitness.

“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,” Dodemaide said.

Australia will not name a replacement immediately, with selectors opting to reassess based on conditions and requirements as the tournament progresses. “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,” Dodemaide added.

Hazlewood has a formidable T20 record despite not playing a match in the format for nearly four years, from March 2016 to January 2020. He helped Australia to their only T20 World Cup title, in the UAE in 2021, taking 3 for 16 in the final against New Zealand.

He has taken 133 wickets at 20.44 with an economy rate of 7.57. Of the 75 quick bowlers to have sent down at least 2000 deliveries between January 2020 and the end of last year. His average is the second best (behind India pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah), and his economy ranks him eighth.

The 35-year-old pacer joined fellow fast bowler Pat Cummins on the injury list. Xavier Bartlett and Sixers left-armer Ben Dwarshuis are the only two fully fit frontline quicks. Sean Abbott, who was added as a travelling reserve last week, could eventually be added to the squad as Hazlewood’s replacement.

Nathan Ellis and Tim David, who have both been dealing with hamstring issues, are on track to be available for the group stage, while Adam Zampa (groin tightness) will be available for the first match in Colombo next week.

Australia’s warm-up match against the Netherlands was abandoned on Thursday, but they still have a six-day preparation window before the first group game against Ireland.

Skipper Mitchell Marsh remains confident Australia have “a lot of bases covered with our squad” given the presence of seam-bowling all-rounders Marcus Stoinis and Cameron Green.

“We’ve been able to build a lot of depth within our squad, and the guys that have come in have played a lot of cricket for our group. So we’ve got a lot of confidence in them to go out there and do the job when required, and then we’ll just pick teams based on the conditions.

“Matthew Kuhnemann has been great for us. We’ve also got Adam Zampa and then we’ve got a few spinning all-rounders, like most teams will. So I think we’ve got all bases covered, and now it’s just about getting stuck into it,” Marsh said.

–IANS

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