Steve Smith sidelined? Australia forced to clarify on ‘cover’ call after T20 World Cup debacle: Australia is out of the 2026 T20 World Cup. In the competition they surprisingly lost against Zimbabwe and then against co-hosts Sri Lanka. This is the second time they have been eliminated from the competition and the first since 2009. They came into the competition with an inexperienced bowling attack.
Steve Smith, who was brought in as ‘cover’ after Mitchell Marsh was injured and missed the first two matches. After the defeat against Sri Lanka, selector Tony Dodemide had clarified Smith’s role.
Steve Smith’s inclusion explained as a ‘cover’
The unexpected exit sparked criticism domestically, with Dodemide himself saying that the failure would be “thoroughly analysed” after a “really disappointing” season.
Australia selector Tony Dodemade said, “We see him mainly up top and he’s come into the team as cover in that area. He was only really available for the third game,” Dodemade said, “That was the game we had our best performing pair, which is (Mitchell) Marsh and (Travis) Head, who performed very well.”
“If we get more moving parts and we have to think about things differently, that’s a different story, but certainly now Steve has retained his position as cover for that starting position.”
Questions were raised over Steve Smith’s exclusion from the T20 World Cup squad.
Following Australia’s defeat against Sri Lanka, former opening batsman Mark Waugh condemned Smith in an interview with SENQ Breakfast, terming it an “insult” to the former Australian captain.
“I think the whole campaign was doomed from the start because of selection issues and injuries.” Waugh said. “For me, Steve Smith’s non-selection in the team is basically the most shocking non-selection that I can remember for ages.
“I think their selection is completely wrong and to have their best player by 100 yards sitting on the sidelines in Steve Smith, honestly I think it’s an insult to Steve Smith.”
Steve Smith’s exit was all the more shocking given his stellar form during the Big Bash League (BBL) 2025/26 season, where he scored 299 runs at an average of 59.80 and a strike-rate of 167.97, including one century and two fifties.
Australia missed two of its premium fast bowlers, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, as they were ruled out of the competition due to various injuries. Before their first game against Ireland, they suffered another blow as captain Mitchell Marsh suffered a groin injury and missed two games.
Matthew Hayden criticizes Cameron Green
Matthew Hayden was left fuming with the decision to drop in-form Matt Renshaw and retain Cameron Green in the match against Sri Lanka. “Green’s performance with the bat has been very poor,” Hayden told BBC Test Match Special. “He looks woody, he looks lanky, he seems like he’s a very confident guy, and I would be very surprised if that’s not actually the case.”
Nothing is going well for Australia after winning the Test series against England. They face Oman in their final game of the competition, which will be a wasteful game; However, they would like to finish the competition on a high with a big win against the associate nation.
Also read: Gautam Gambhir is not serious! Shivam Dubey credits MS Dhoni for his bravery in T20 World Cup 2026
