MELBOURNE: In a major setback to an already depleted Australia, their premier pacer Josh Hazlewood was on Friday ruled out of the T20 World Cup after "running out of time" to recover from a hamstring injury.
Australia would not be naming any replacement for the 35-year-old bowler.
It was earlier stated by Cricket Australia that Hazlewood would be able to join the squad during the middle and later stages of the tournament, beginning Saturday and to be played at venues across India and Sri Lanka.
"We were hopeful Josh would be back to match fitness by the Super 8 stage but the latest indications he is still some time away and accelerating his program will carry too much risk," selector Tony Dodemaide said.
"We will not be naming a replacement player immediately. We feel we are well covered for the initial games so will make any later decisions based on priority need at the time," he added.
Nathan Ellis and Tim David are on track to be available for the group stage while Adam Zampa will be available for the first match in Colombo next week.
Australia's practice match against the Netherlands was abandoned last night but the team still has a six-day preparation window before the first pool game against Ireland on February 11.
Australia will play their four preliminary games in Colombo and Pallekele.
Hazlewood was ruled out of the 2025-26 Ashes series due to a lingering Achilles injury that occurred during his rehabilitation from a previous hamstring strain.
Earlier, seasoned pacer Pat Cummins was ruled out of the entire tournament due to a persistent back injury and was replaced in the 15-man squad by Ben Dwarshuis.
Mitchell Starc's T20I retirement has already robbed the squad of an all-weather bowler.