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Australia’s hard-hitting batting all-rounder Tim David has been ruled out of their T20 World Cup 2026 opener against Ireland, confirmed captain Mitchell Marsh on February 11.
"We'll certainly see him come back into contention over the next few games," Marsh said of David during his pre-match press conference.
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David hasn’t played a single game since he suffered a hamstring injury during Hobart Hurricanes' clash against Perth Scorchers on December 26 in BBL 2025-26. Marsh hopes David recovers in time for the other group stage games.
Who will replace Tim David in playing XI?
David was in red-hot form in 2025. From 10 innings, he scored 395 runs at an average of 49.37 and strike rate of 197.50. He justified the promotion up the order with a century against West Indies. In his absence, Matt Renshaw may get a chance to play in the middle order. The other option is Cooper Connolly.
Ellis to lead inexperienced pace attack
Meanwhile, Nathan Ellis has been cleared to play. He will lead the pace attack in the absence of a retired Mitchell Starc and injured Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins. Also, the selectors have ignored an in-form Steve Smith.
While Australia are considered favourites in every tournament they enter irrespective of the format, they don't look as menacing as the previous squads. But, Marsh has faith in his teammates.
"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."
Australia have a good record against Ireland. The champions of the 2021 edition have won both T20I fixtures against the Irish.
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