Smith officially added to Australia T20 World Cup squad as Hazlewood's replacement

Steven Smith has been officially added to Australia's T20 World Cup squad, filling the spot created by Josh Hazlewood's absence, meaning he is available to face Sri Lanka on Monday evening if needed.

Smith was flown over after Mitchell Marsh suffered testicular bleeding after a blow in the groin ahead of Australia's opening match against Ireland. He arrived in time to travel with the team to Pallekele, where they will play their final two group matches.

He trained on Sunday ahead of the Sri Lanka match, but it has yet to be confirmed whether he will feature. Marsh had an extensive net session and is making positive progress in his recovery, while Marcus Stoinis has been cleared of serious injury after taking a blow on the hand in his follow through against Zimbabwe.

Following their loss to Zimbabwe, Australia have to beat Sri Lanka to maintain a realistic chance of progressing to the Super Eights.

"ICC regulations stipulate any squad change must be submitted and activated at least one day prior to a match," selector Tony Dodemaide said. "With Steve here, along with some uncertainty around Mitch and Marcus Stoinis, it made sense he [Smith] is activated and available for selection in time for the match, if required."

Hazlewood was ruled out before the tournament started, having not recovered from the Achilles problem he picked up during his recovery from a hamstring injury that curtailed his Ashes, but Australia's selectors didn't immediately name a replacement.

Smith last played T20Is in February 2024 but was in outstanding form in the recent BBL where he hammered 299 runs at 59.80 with a strike rate of 167.97. It led to a clamour for him to be included in the World Cup squad, but the selectors resisted while they still had time to freely amend the 15, opting instead to call-up Matt Renshaw in place of Matt Short with a specific middle-order role in mind.

Overall in T20Is, Smith averages 24.86 with a strike rate of 125.45, but in leagues and franchises since last featuring for Australia, he has an average of 49.73 and a strike rate of 156.19.

However, the form of a number of Australia's batters has been unconvincing at the World Cup. Travis Head's lean run in T20Is has continued early into the tournament, pressure is growing on Cameron Green, and Glenn Maxwell's struggles from the BBL have followed him to Sri Lanka.

Josh Inglis, meanwhile, has a top score of 42 in eight innings since the Ashes and Tim David made a duck against Zimbabwe in his first knock since a hamstring injury on Boxing Day.

Sean Abbott is also with the squad as a traveling reserve but can get into the squad only if another player is injured.