Australia's injury woes continue; another star pacer doubtful for T20 World Cup 2026

Australia will be captained by Mitchell Marsh in T20 World Cup 2026.

The countdown for ICC T20 World Cup 2026 has begun as the tournament will start in the first week of next month. The Australian Cricket Team will be a strong contender to win the tournament, where they will be captained by Mitchell Marsh. However, they have suffered a big blow ahead of the campaign as one of their star pacers has sustained an injury.

Before T20 World Cup 2026, Australia will square off with Pakistan in three T20Is from January 29 to February 1 at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore. The campaign will help them to prepare for T20 World Cup 2026, which will start on February 7.

Australia have already named a provisional squad for the ICC tournament and will name their final squad ahead of the January 31 deadline. The Men-in-Yellow are placed in Group B and will face Ireland in their first game on February 11.

Nathan Ellis suffers injury; ruled out of the BBL 2025-26

Defending champions Hobart Hurricanes (HBH), who qualified for the playoffs of the Big Bash League (BBL) 2025-26, suffered a big blow as they captain Nathan Ellis has been ruled out of the tournament due to a hamstring injury.

The Australian pacer sustained the injury in an earlier clash against the Brisbane Heat. Moreover, he also missed the previous clash against the Melbourne Stars. Meanwhile, Ellis has been the team’s leading wicket-taker in BBL 2025-26 with 14 wickets in nine matches at an economy rate of 9.03.

Ben McDermott captained the side in his absence in the clash. He has also appointed as the captain for the upcoming games and is leading the team in the Challenger clash against the Sydney Sixers. The encounter got underway at Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney on Friday, January 23.

In an official statement, the team management confirmed that Ellis has been ruled out of the BBL 2025-26 due to injury.

“Hobart Hurricanes can confirm that skipper Nathan Ellis will miss the remainder of the BBL season and the BBL15 finals due to hamstring tightness. Ellis, who missed the Knockout on Wednesday night, was aiming to return for the final two matches of the BBL finals but was unfortunately unable to overcome the injury,” stated the club in a release on Friday.

Nathan Ellis doubtful for ICC T20 World Cup 2026

Due to the hamstring injury, the right-arm seamer has been rested from Australia’s upcoming T20I series against Pakistan. Moreover, his participation in the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 is also doubtful. This comes as a huge blow for Australia as they are going to miss Pat Cummins’ services in the initial games of the tournament.

He is recovering from a lumbar stress injury in his lower back. Moreover, senior pacer Josh Hazelwood is recovering from a hamstring injury but is expected to be fit ahead of the World Cup. Both of them will be absent from the Pakistan T20Is.

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