Cummins is yet to recover from his lumbar bone stress injury sustained before the Ashes.
Australia’s men’s chief selector George Bailey on Monday (January 19) confirmed that Pat Cummins won’t be able to participate in at least the first couple of T20 World Cup 2026 games.
Cummins is yet to recover from his lumbar bone stress injury sustained before the 2025-26 Ashes series, which kept him sidelined from four out of five Tests.
Cummins underwent an intense rehabilitation during the Ashes and made a brief comeback in the third Test at the Adelaide Oval, starring with six wickets, but didn’t feature in the last two games as Australia were wary that extending his workload could lead to long-term fitness issues.
While Cummins was expected to return in time for the T20 World Cup, which begins on February 7 in India and Sri Lanka, Bailey suggested that it might be a case of joining late.
Bailey explained why Cummins, alongside Josh Hazlewood and Tim David, were missing from Australia’s squad for the three-T20I series against Pakistan.
“[David] had a very minor setback (for hamstring injury recovery), I think last week, so didn’t quite get through a running session that he was hoping to, but has since been cleared of any damage," Bailey said.
“It was just, I think, on the back of a heavy week. So he’s still tracking for the start of the tournament. Josh is in the same boat and Pat’s a little bit different … he’ll probably join that World Cup group a little bit later in the tournament, around game three or four."
He added that it was Australia’s preference to give Cummins, who has an injury-prone back, as much time as possible to recover from the injury.
“If we can, absolutely, that’s the plan," Bailey stated. “Clearly, if something moves and we’re forced to cover that, we will, but, yes, hopefully all things being equal, that’ll be how that one plays out."
Australia will play three T20Is against Pakistan in Lahore on January 29, 31 and February 1, before travelling to Sri Lanka where they are scheduled to open their T20 World Cup campaign against Ireland in Colombo on February 11.