Mitchell Marsh to lead as Australia announces provisional squad for T20 World Cup 2026

Cricket Australia, on Thursday, January 1, unveiled a provisional 15-man squad for the forthcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, which is scheduled to start on Saturday, February 7, in India and Sri Lanka.

Notably, Mitchell Marsh will continue to lead the 15-man squad, which also has the star pacer Pat Cummins, premium all-rounders Cameron Green and Cooper Connolly, who made their return to the squad after missing out on the recent India T20I series.

It’s worth noting that Mitchell Starc has already announced his retirement from the shortest format of the game, and the chairman of selectors, George Bailey, hasn’t picked any left-arm pacer in the squad.

Australia will start its T20 World Cup 2026 campaign against Ireland on Wednesday, February 11, in Colombo. Later, they will lock horns with Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, and Oman in their remaining three group-stage clashes.

“The T20 side has enjoyed a long run of recent success, which enabled the panel to choose a balance of players across the variety of conditions Sri Lanka and India may present," Bailey told the reporters after announcing the squad.

“Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Tim David are tracking well and we are confident they will be available for the World Cup. This is a preliminary squad so should changes need to be made they will ahead of the support period,” he added.

"A squad for the three game T20 Series against Pakistan which precedes the World Cup will be named at a later date,” he concluded. 

Provisional Australian squad for the ICC T20 World Cup 2026: 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.

Australia's Group B fixtures 

February 11 v Ireland, Colombo 

February 13 v Zimbabwe, Colombo 

February 16 v Sri Lanka, Kandy 

February 20 v Oman, Kandy

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