Australia captain Pat Cummins and bowler Josh Hazlewood have been ruled out of the Champions Trophy 2025 and the side have to make four changes in their preliminary squad with Marcus Stoinis and Mitchell Marsh will not be available for the ICC event.
The news comes after all-rounder Marcus Stoinis announced his ODI retirement, which means he must also be replaced in the final squad that will be announced following the end of the current test match at Galle.
On the other hand, all-rounder Mitchell Marsh had already been withdrawn from the Australia squad as he struggled with a back injury that has worsened while he has undertaken rehabilitation.
Cummins has not yet recovered from the ankle issue he sustained during the Border Gavaskar Trophy series against India, while Josh Hazlewood has a hip problem following earlier hip and calf strains.
Australia will need to make four changes to their preliminary squad for the upcoming #ChampionsTrophy with confirmation skipper Pat Cummins and fellow fast bowler Josh Hazlewood have been ruled out of the tournamenthttps://t.co/zYgCBUQb0v
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) February 6, 2025
“Unfortunately Pat, Josh and Mitch are managing some ongoing injuries and haven’t come up in time for the Champion’s Trophy,,” national selection panel chair George Bailey said today.
“While disappointing, it does present a great opportunity for other players to perform for Australia in a world event.”
With Cummins out of the tournament, Travis Head or Steve Smith is likely to take over captaincy. The latter was named as the test captain for the Sri Lanka tests.
The latest updates means Australia will have to make four changes to its provisional squad for the tournament which starts on February 19.
Placed in Group B, Australia has been drawn in Group B along with England, South Africa and Afghanistan. As per Australia’s Champions Trophy schedule, their first match will be against England on February 22 at Gaddafi Stadium.
