After their pace attack weakened due to Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood being ruled out of the tournament, the Australian selectors requested Mitchell Starc to withdraw his T20I retirement, but the left-arm fast bowler turned them down and showed no intention of playing further in this format.
Australia crashed out of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 after suffering two absolutely unexpected and humiliating defeats in their group-stage games. The first of the two defeats came against Zimbabwe, which proved to be the biggest upset of this World Cup so far.
Australia’s chances of qualification ultimately ended with a crushing defeat against Sri Lanka as well. The Lankan team defeated the Mitchell Marsh-led side as they chased down the total of 180+ with ease. Australia’s only wins in the competition came against Ireland and Oman.
Mitchell Starc turns down national selectors’ plea to reverse T20I retirement
Ahead of the start of the ICC T20 World Cup, Australia faced some major setbacks as veteran fast bowler Pat Cummins was declared unfit for the ICC event. After his exit, a lot depended on another legend, Josh Hazlewood.
However, when Hazlewood failed to recover from his Achilles injury in time, the Australian team realized the crisis. He then went to one of his biggest assets, Mitchell Starc, with the ball and made a reasonable request to him to take back his retirement and become the star for the Australian team. Then the Australian team needed his vast experience.
However, according to Code Sports and Robert Craddock, Starc turned them down twice, as he had always mentioned that he had no plans to return to T20I cricket, and his only intention in retiring from the format was to focus solely on Test cricket.
You can’t blame them for asking… right?
Story https://t.co/GD6nhNtwZ6 pic.twitter.com/s6Ctjs8Iw0
– Code Cricket (@codecricketau) 25 February 2026
Mitchell Starc, however, will continue to play franchise T20 cricket as he returned to play in the Big Bash League after a long time. He has also not given any statement on not being a part of the upcoming IPL season for Delhi Capitals.
“Test cricket has always been my top priority” – Mitchell Starc
When Mitchell Starc shocked everyone by suddenly announcing his retirement from T20Is, he had clearly mentioned that it was not under any pressure and it was only to prepare himself physically and mentally for the 21 Test matches that lie ahead for Australia in the next 1.5 years.
Mitchell Starc said, “Test cricket has always been my top priority. I have loved every minute of every T20 game I have played for Australia, especially the 2021 T20 World Cup, not just because we won but because of the incredible group and the fun we had along the way.”
After finishing his T20I career with 79 wickets in 65 matches for the Australian team, Starc was last seen in the home Ashes for Australia, where he was the leading wicket-taker with 31 wickets in 5 matches.
Australia need to start thinking beyond their Big 3 to strengthen their pace attack
The crushing defeat of the Australian team in the T20 World Cup was a reality for them ahead of the World Cup to be held next year in 2027. The selectors associated with Cricket Australia should start looking for options beyond their big three fast bowlers.
Mitchell Starc has called it quits in T20Is and will not be seen in ODI action after next year’s World Cup, while Cummins and Hazlewood are also at the tail end of their careers, especially in white-ball cricket and ICC tournaments.
After the upcoming World Cup, Starc will be 41, Hazlewood 40 and Cummins 38 when the 2031 World Cup is played. Hence, it can be confirmed that the upcoming World Cup will be the last for this trio, and hence, Australia needs new people to work under their wing.
In the T20 World Cup, Xavier Bartlett was ineffective, Nathan Ellis was economical but could not take wickets, and Marcus Stoinis came in to take the new ball for Australia. He needs massive improvement in his pace deck.
Also read: Hardik Pandya is ready to destroy Rohit Sharma’s all-time T20 record