Australia have pulled the trigger on adding Steve Smith to their T20 World Cup squad hours before their crunch match with Sri Lanka
Australia have finally added a 15th member to their T20 World Cup squad with Steve Smith officially added to the group ahead of tonight’s must-win encounter with Sri Lanka.
Smith takes Josh Hazlewood’s spot in Australia’s World Cup squad with a replacement not immediately named when the paceman was ruled out of the tournament earlier this month as he recovers from an Achilles injury.
The right-hander trained with the squad in Kandy on Sunday evening after arriving in Sri Lanka in recent days as cover for opener Mitch Marsh who missed Australia’s first two matches with a testicular injury.
Marsh returned to training on Sunday, moving freely during running and fielding drills as he pushes to make his comeback against the tournament co-hosts at Pallekele Stadium later tonight (Tuesday, 12:30am AEDT).
The Australian T20 captain also batted for about 45 minutes, crunching several balls out of the ground as well as one that struck a quarter of the way up one of the venue’s four light towers.
ICC tournament regulations require any squad changes to gain approval from the Event Technical Committee ahead of a match, meaning Smith has been brought into the official 15-man group should Marsh pull up sore today.
Allrounder Marcus Stoinis was declared fit after copping a blow to his left hand in the previous match, but he did briefly pause his more than hour-long net session to get strapping applied to the affected area.
“ICC regulations stipulate any squad change must be submitted and activated on the day prior to a match,” on-duty selector Tony Dodemaide said.
“With Steve here, along with some uncertainty around Mitch and Marcus Stoinis, it made sense he (Smith) is activated and available for selection in time for the match, if required.”
Stoinis was Australia’s best with the ball in their 23-run upset loss to Zimbabwe last Friday, taking the opening wicket before leaving the field in his third over immediately after being struck by the ball in his follow through.
Marsh’s impending return, or Smith’s availability now that he has been added to the squad, means Josh Inglis will likely revert to his regular T20 position at No.3. Australia’s wicketkeeper opened in place of Marsh in their first two World Cup matches, scoring 37 and eight.
Left-hander Matthew Renshaw appears to have done enough to hold his spot in the side after top scoring in the loss to Zimbabwe with 65 from 44 balls, while he also lifted Australia out of trouble in their first-up win over Ireland, hitting 37 in a 61-run partnership with Stoinis.
Even if Smith doesn’t play, his addition to the World Cup squad indicates he is in Australia’s future T20 plans as he eyes a spot at the Olympics in 2028.
Smith comes into the tournament on the back of another stellar Big Bash campaign that yielding 299 runs striking at almost 170 in six matches for Sydney Sixers, which included a fourth BBL century in the past four seasons.
Australia sit third in Group B after their loss to Zimbabwe, with two wins from their remaining group matches giving them the best chance of progression to the Super Eight stage.
They have the benefit of playing last against Oman (Saturday, 12:30am AEDT), so they will know exactly what net run rate they need to achieve should they finish level on points with Sri Lanka and the African nation.
2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup
Australia squad: Mitch Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis, Cameron Green, Nathan Ellis, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa. Travelling reserve: Sean Abbott
Australia’s Group Stage fixtures
February 11: beat Ireland by 67 runs
February 13: lost to Zimbabwe by 23 runs
February 16: v Sri Lanka, Pallekele International Stadium, Kandy (Feb 17, 12:30am AEDT)
February 20: v Oman, Pallekele International Stadium, Kandy (Feb 21, 12:30am AEDT)
Australia’s Super Eight fixtures
(Assuming all seeded teams qualify)
February 23: Australia (X2) v West Indies (X3), Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai (Feb 24, 12:30am AEDT)
February 26: India (X1) v Australia (X2), MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai (Feb 27, 12:30am AEDT)
March 1: Australia (X2) v South Africa (X4), Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi, 8:30pm AEDT
Click here for the full tournament schedule
All matches will be broadcast on Amazon’s Prime Video
