Australia’s T20 World Cup 2026 campaign has hit a significant speed bump before a ball has even been bowled. Captain Mitchell Marsh confirmed on Tuesday that power-hitter Tim David will miss the team’s opening fixture against Ireland due to a lingering hamstring injury.
The match, scheduled for Wednesday, February 11, at the R. Premadasa Stadium, marks Australia’s first appearance in the tournament. While the rest of the field has already begun their campaigns, the 2021 champions will have to start theirs without one of the most destructive finishers in the shortest format.
Mitchell Marsh gives update on Tim David
Tim David is recovering from a hamstring strain as the 2021 winners look to ease him into the scheme of things.
Speaking ahead of the clash in Colombo, Australia skipper Mitchell Marsh confirmed that David will be back into the fray in the games to follow.
“We’ll certainly see him come back into contention over the next few games,” he told reporters.
Lack of experience in fast bowling department
In the pace department, Australia are also without the services of Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, making it the first time they feature at a World Cup without the duo as well as Mitchell Starc since 2011.
In their absence, Nathan Ellis will be leading the fast bowling unit, with Xavier Bartlett and Ben Dwarshuis also in contention.
“Over the past 12 months, guys like Benny Dwarshuis and Xavier Bartlett have played pretty much all our games, so we’ve got great confidence that they’ll be able to do a role for us,” Marsh said.
“We’ve built out a squad of maybe 18 to 20 people that have played over the past 12 months, and we’ve got game time to all of them.
“They’ve all faced different situations in matches and while some of them haven’t played a lot for Australia, they’ve played a lot of cricket and we’ve got great confidence … in the group that we’ve got here,” he added.
Australia are slotted in Group B alongside co-hosts Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Oman and Ireland.
