Australia all-rounder Marcus Stoinis sustained an injury to his right thumb while playing for the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League (BBL). He had an impressive outing against the Adelaide Strikers on Tuesday, recording figures of 2/8 as the Stars bundled out the opposition for just 83 before hitting 23 runs and guiding the team to a 6-wicket win.
It was during the chase where the injury concerns emerged as Stoinis was hit on his thumb by a delivery from Jamie Overton. The 36-year-old has been picked in Australia's provisional squad for the 2026 T20 World Cup and it will be a major blow for the team if he ends up missing out on the tournament. With Stars being just two runs away from reaching the target at that time, he chose to retire hurt.
Australia's concerning injury woes
Notably, several Australian players are already dealing with injuries. The likes of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Tim David are all undergoing rehabilitation in order to recover in time for the T20 World Cup. Stoinis has now joined the list and it remains to be seen if he will be able to return to full fitness soon.
The all-rounder addressed the injury following the match and explained that he decided to retire hurt as a precautionary measure. He is confident to recover in time for the upcoming competition.
ALSO READ: Shreyas Iyer breaks silence on 'excruciatingly painful' injury after long international return
“I think I'll probably be getting a scan, but I reckon it's alright. Initially it feels like nothing and after about 10 seconds you feel something, and it's probably just not worth the risk at that stage of the game,” Stoinis said after the match.
“It was nothing at the start and then after about 10 seconds your hand starts shaking a bit and you're a bit nervous about it. I think it's alright, but not worth pushing it, I guess," he added.
Stoinis' numbers in T20Is
Meanwhile, Stoinis is one of the more important players in Australia's T20I squad. He has played a total of 82 matches in the format, scoring 1338 runs and picking up 49 scalps. He has maintained a brilliant strike-rate of 147.51 and has registered six half-centuries in the format so far.
Australia's squad for 2026 T20 World Cup: Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Cameron Green, Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Short, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa