Behrendorff's T20 World Cup hopes dented after suffering broken leg in freak training accident

Jason Behrendorff's hopes of sneaking into Australia's T20 World Cup squad have suffered a major blow after he was ruled out of the IPL with a broken leg following a freakish training accident last week.

Behrendorff was batting in the nets at the WACA ground last Thursday ahead of departing to India to play in the IPL with Mumbai Indians when he suffered a fractured left fibula after a ball missed his pad and struck him flush just above the left ankle.

He does not require surgery but the recovery timeline is roughly eight weeks which ruled him out of the IPL. Mumbai have replaced him with England left-arm quick Luke Wood, although Behrendorff's injury is a major blow to Mumbai's bowling depth after he took 14 wickets in 12 games last year.

It is shocking piece of misfortune for Behrendorff, who is Australia's reigning T20I player of the year following an excellent last 12 months. He played five matches for Australia on the tours of South Africa and India in 2023 and took eight wickets at 16.50, with an economy rate of just 6.60. He produced a stunning spell in Guwahati in Australia's only win in the five-match T20I series post the ODI World Cup, taking 1 for 12 from four overs with 17 dots in a game where no other bowler conceded less than eight runs per over and the two sides racked up 447 runs in 40 overs.

The return of Mitchell Starc for the recent T20I series in New Zealand saw Behrendorff left out of Australia's squad after playing the home series against West Indies. He was only an outside chance of making the final World Cup 15 when everyone was fit but he was high on the list of back-up options should anything happen to Starc during the IPL.

Behrendorff is now hoping to recover in time to make himself available for the T20 Blast in England which begins on May 31. He has previously played in the Blast for Sussex in 2019 and Middlesex in 2022.