Hazlewood ruled out of T20 WC

In a major setback to an already depleted Australia, their premier pacer Josh Hazlewood was on Friday ruled out of the T20 World Cup after “running out of time” to recover from a hamstring injury. Australia would not be naming any replacement for the 35-year-old bowler.

It was earlier stated by Cricket Australia that Hazlewood would be able to join the squad during the middle and later stages of the tournament, beginning Saturday and to be played at venues across India and Sri Lanka. “We were hopeful Josh would be back to match fitness by the Super 8 stage but the latest indications he is still some time away and accelerating his program 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 need at the time,” he added. Nathan Ellis and Tim David are on track to be available for the group stage while Adam Zampa will be available for the first match in Colombo next week.