Australia have left the door open for Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Tim David for the upcoming T20 World Cup. Cummins is recovering from a back issue, Hazlewood is making his return after an Achilles injury, while David was sidelined by a hamstring injury. Australia will keep room for the key players for the crucial stages of the tournament.
Chair of selectors George Bailey said Australia are confident that Hazlewood and David will be fit by the start of the tournament, while Cummins may need a longer recovery period.
“I don’t think they [Cummins and Hazlewood] will be available for the Pakistan series [three T20Is in January], but I think both should be online [for the World Cup],” Bailey told reporters at the SCG. “Patty might be a bit later, that might be a similar sort of situation to Travis Head in the 50-over World Cup, where there’s an entry point at some point. Hopefully we can manage and carry a squad until that point. I think Hoff [Hazlewood] should be right by the start, think Tim David should be right by the start.”
Bailey also admitted that Australia are flexible during the early matches and that Cummins could return later in the tournament.
“You might get pushed into a corner where you can’t, and you might need to make adjustments in the squad,” he said. “We were close to that having to be the case with Travis. It’s got a fit… but I guess the beauty is potentially Colombo and Kandy you might be in a position where you can set the team up in different ways.”
Australia’s spin options include Adam Zampa, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Kuhnemann and Cooper Connolly. Australia are placed in Group B alongside Ireland, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and Oman. They will start their World Cup campaign against Ireland on February 11.
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