ICC T20 World Cup: Injured Pat Cummins out of squad, Dwarshuis in

Pat Cummins is ruled out of the T20 World Cup due to injury, with Ben Dwarshuis and Matt Renshaw stepping in.

Australia fast bowler Pat Cummins was ruled out on Saturday (January 31, 2026) for next month's ‍Twenty20 World Cup after failing to recover from a nagging ​back injury, and Ben Dwarshuis will replace him ‌for the global showpiece.

Cummins played just one ​of the five Ashes tests against England, but Australia kept him in the provisional World Cup squad hoping for his availability in the Super Eight stage of the tournament to be played in India and Sri Lanka.

Matt Renshaw also replaced fellow batter Matthew Short but ​veteran Steve Smith could not break into the ⁠World Cup squad despite his strong form in the Big Bash League.

"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 overall structure of the squad."

The Mitchell ‍Marsh-led side are currently playing a three-match T20 series in Pakistan as part of their preparation for the World ‍Cup.