Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins has been ruled out of the 2026 FIFA T20 World Cup due to a back injury. The Australia Test and ODI captain has now opened up about his absence from the tournament, saying he does not want to take any chances while he recovers from what he described as a minor setback.
Cummins, who completed a rare trio of T20 World Cup, ODI World Cup and Test World Cup titles, has not played regular cricket since Australia’s tour of the West Indies last year. He only featured in one Test during the Ashes, where Australia beat England 4–1.
The fast bowler said he needed more rest to allow the bone in his back to settle before returning to full training. Cummins also admitted that his availability for the Indian Premier League remains uncertain and will depend entirely on how his rehabilitation continues.
“It was really unlucky. I feel pretty good, just a bit of a setback and just ran out of time, really. I’m going to rest for a couple of weeks and go from here,” Cummins told the Australian Associated Press.
“We knew after the (Adelaide) Test match that we would need somewhere between four and eight weeks to let the bone settle before it could be rebuilt. We originally thought it might be just four weeks because I was feeling really good, but after the follow-up scan they said it needed another couple of weeks. The timeline just became a bit too tight,” he added.
Pat Cummins with a focus on tests
Cummins said his focus in 2026 would now shift firmly to Test cricket, with Australia looking to qualify for a third consecutive Test World Cup final. Australia lost last year’s final to South Africa, who won their first ICC trophy in more than two decades.
“We’ll get it right and hopefully that means you don’t have to worry about it and you can go out and play all those Test matches,” Cummins said.
In Cummins’ absence, Australia have named left-arm bowler Ben Dwarshuis in their T20 World Cup squad. Dwarshuis is primarily a power play specialist, a contrast to Cummins’ ability to operate in all phases of an innings.
Australia T20 World Cup 2026 Squad:
Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis, Cameron Green, Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Renshaw, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa.
Travel reserve: Sean Abbott
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Issued by:
Kingshuk Kusari
Published on:
February 3, 2026
