Steve Smith replaces injured Hazlewood in Australia's T20 WC squad

Steve Smith has been officially added to Australia's T20 World Cup 2026 squad to replace Josh Hazlewood, who has been injured. Hazlewood was unable to compete because of a calf injury, despite the fact that the medical team had previously hoped that he would be fit for the tournament's conclusion. Smith will make a comeback in the Twenty20 International series now that Hazlewood has been ruled out by injury. Australia had not yet named a replacement. "We were hopeful Josh would be back to match fitness by the Super 8 stage," Australia selector Tony Dodemaide said of Hazlewood's absence on February 5. "The latest indications he is still some time away and accelerating his program will carry too much risk." However, on February 15, a day before their next match in Pallekele against co-hosts Sri Lanka, Australia had to ask the ICC to approve Smith as a replacement. Smith, 36, last participated in the T20 World Cup in 2022 and hasn't played in a T20I since February 2024. In 14 innings at T20 World Cups, he has hit just one fifty, striking at 111.76. However, his return to the shorter format follows a stellar BBL 2025-26 campaign in which he scored at a strike rate of 167.97 while scoring 299 runs at an average of 59.80. A century and two decades were included in the total. He led Sydney Sixers in runs scored while opening the batting and played a crucial role in their progress to the final. Overall, Smith has 1094 runs in T20Is, striking at 125.45, including five fifties. Smith has been working out with the team since being called up to fill in for Mitchell Marsh, who injured his groin while training and missed the first two games. Australia are currently placed third in the Group B points table, winning against Ireland but losing to Zimbabwe in one of the upsets of the tournament so far. The next match is against Sri Lanka, and their final group stage match is against Oman. Updated Australia squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis, Cameron Green, Nathan Ellis, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Renshaw, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa