Italy captain Wayne Madsen injures shoulder in T20 World Cup opener

In an inauspicious start to Italy's maiden T20 World Cup campaign, their captain Wayne Madsen dislocated his shoulder in the fourth over of Scotland's innings at Eden Gardens. He was later ruled out of any further participation in the match and is doubtful for Italy's remaining group matches.

"He dislocated his shoulder. The physio managed to get it back in, but he'll have to go and get more scans to see how serious it is," Italy coach John Davison said after the match against Scotland. "I think he's doubtful for the rest of the tournament, but I'm not going to say he's out.

"But I think it'll be doubtful if you dislocate your shoulder in cricket. It's going to be pretty tough to come back from, but we'll see what the scans say. I hope he can turn out fit because he's an integral part of the team. He's a very experienced head. We might have to give him a red shirt [the coaches' colours]. He can join the coaching staff."

Madsen was fielding at midwicket when he tried to stop a pull from George Munsey. He dived to his left, rolled over on the practice pitches and immediately asked for medical attention. He soon left the ground using a towel as a sling for his left arm.

Madsen, by far Italy's most experienced cricketer at age 42, was taken for X-rays right away at the venue. A typical shoulder dislocation can take anywhere between seven to 21 days for full recovery while more serious cases can take three to four months.

While serious injury replacements are being trialled by cricket boards in India and Australia in domestic cricket, there are no injury replacements in the playing XI allowed in international cricket. At the moment, replacements are allowed only if a player suffers concussion. In Madsen's absence, Italy were captained by Harry Manenti for the remainder of Scotland's innings. Scotland went on to score 207 for 4 after they were sent in to bat.

Madsen was appointed Italy captain for the 2026 T20 World Cup after Joe Burns was not selected for the tournament. This World Cup is his second across sports; he also represented South Africa in the men's hockey in the 2006 World Cup.

After the game against Scotland in Kolkata on February 9, Italy play Nepal in Mumbai on February 12, and then travel back to Kolkata to play England on February 16 and West Indies on February 19.