T20 World Cup: Pat Cummins ruled out of Australian squad among two changes, but still no room for Steve Smith

Pat Cummins has been ruled out of the T20 World Cup amid two changes to Australia’s squad, but there’s still no room for Steve Smith as a replacement.

Cummins has failed to overcome the back injury that saw him play just one Test this summer, while Matt Short has been axed for form reasons.

The duo will be replaced by Ben Dwarshuis and Matt Renshaw, who are with the Aussie team in Pakistan for a series of lead-in matches ahead of their World Cup opener on February 11.

Cummins ruled himself out of the last two Tests of the Ashes after returning to help secure the urn in Adelaide in an effort to be fit for the tournament, but his back troubles will once again keep him sidelined.

It means a call-up for Dwarshuis, while Short’s omission is a surprise less than a fortnight out from Australia’s opening match.

Having been a travelling reserve in their last two T20 World Cup campaigns, Short has been dropped altogether after a poor Big Bash season and missed out in Australia’s T20 loss to Pakistan.

Despite Smith’s blistering Big Bash form helping lead the Sydney Sixers to the final, which had many calling for his inclusion in the squad, Renshaw was instead called up, with his versatility to bat through the order and ability to bowl spin earning him the nod over the star veteran.

“With Pat needing more time to recover from his back injury Ben is a ready replacement who offers a left arm pace option as well as dynamic fielding and late order hitting,” said national selector Tony Dodemaide.

“We believe his ability to swing the ball at good pace along with clever variations will be well suited to the conditions we expect and overall structure of the squad.

“Matt has impressed in all formats of late, including in multiple roles in white-ball formats for Australia, the Queensland Bulls and the Brisbane Heat.

“With the top order settled and spin heavy conditions expected in the pool stages in Sri Lanka, we also feel Matt provides extra middle-order support, with Tim David completing his return to play program in the early phase of the tournament.

“As a left-hander, he (Renshaw) also offers a point of difference to the middle order batting.”

David, Nathan Ellis and Josh Hazlewood have been under an injury cloud heading into the tournament, but are all set to be passed fit.

Australia play the second of their three T20s against Pakistan on Saturday night, and have a warm-up game against the Netherlands on February 5 before their tournament opener against Ireland.

Australia’s T20 World Cup squad

Mitchell Marsh (capt), Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis, Cameron Green, Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matt Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Renshaw, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa.