Veteran Australia pacer Pat Cummins has been ruled out of the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, with Ben Dwarshuis replacing him in the squad. Matthew Renshaw replacing Matthew Short is another change made by the selectors.
Cummins failed to recover fully from his lingering back injury and will miss the tournament, which begins next month. With 20 wickets to his name in 13 T20Is, Dwarshuis comes in as Cummins’ replacement. The left-arm pacer will bring variety to the pace attack and will also be handy with the bat lower down the order.
“With Pat needing more time to recover from his back injury, Ben is a ready replacement who offers a left-arm pace option as well as dynamic fielding and late-order hitting,” selector Tony Dodemaide said. “We believe his ability to swing the ball at good pace, along with clever variations, will be well suited to the conditions we expect and the overall structure of the squad.”
Short has been omitted from the squad following a string of low scores in T20Is as well as in the BBL. On the other hand, Renshaw enjoyed a breakout BBL season and, like Short, can also chip in with his off-spin. Interestingly, Renshaw made his T20I debut earlier this week against Pakistan in Lahore. Alongside Cooper Connolly, the selectors have added another left-handed option in Renshaw, who could be the point of difference in the middle-order batting.
“Matt (Renshaw) has impressed in all formats of late, including in multiple roles in white-ball formats for Australia, the Queensland Bulls and the Brisbane Heat. As a left-hander, he also offers a point of difference to the middle-order batting,” added Dodemaide.
Former captain Steve Smith has been overlooked once again despite being in red-hot form.
Australia T20 World Cup squad: Mitch Marsh (c), Travis Head, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Tim David, Matthew Renshaw, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa, Cooper Connolly, Matt Kuhnemann, Xavier Bartlett.
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