For the fifth time in the last six T20 World Cup editions, Australia failed to qualify for the semi-finals. In fact, they were eliminated from the group stages of the tournament after facing defeats to Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka. It was a forgettable campaign for the Aussies, who are known to bring out their best in World Cups. But this was a bit different, haunting the might of the Aussies.
The reasons were multiple. Australia had some bewildering selection calls. Star players, namely Cameron Green, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell and Travis Head, were just not in great enough forms. However, the killing blow was the injury issues. While Tim David and Nathan Ellis made themselves available just in time, Australia never found true replacements for Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlwood, who both were part of the initial squad only to get ruled out for selection.
Cricket 10 mins Australia’s early exit from T20 World Cup is exactly what IPL 2026 teams would benefit fromSOS call to Starc by Australian selectors
Now, in a stunning development, reports have emerged that the Australian selectors asked legendary pacer Mitchell Starc to make a U-turn on his T20I retirement. Starc, who was one of the best all-format pacers in his era, called time on his T20 international career to prioritise Tests and had one eye on the ODI World Cup 2027 as well. He hung up his boots in September 2025, just a few months before the marquee ICC T20 event in the subcontinent.
According to journalist Robert Craddock, the Australian selectors were concerned about the bowling attack and they ‘secretly’ approached Starc informally to ask if he’d consider rethinking his retirement. “Starc was informally approached at least twice by the panel around the time the squad was being finalised. But Starc elected to stay in T20 retirement. “Craddock wrote for News Corp.
Exclusive from @craddock_cmail:Aussie selectors tried to coax Mitchell Starc out of retirement for T20 World Cup. t.co/hwfCyuArmI pic.twitter.com/w83GFJH5OH
— Daniel Cherny (@DanielCherny) February 25, 2026The last time Australia played an ICC event without the likes of Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood was in 2011 (ODI World Cup). Hence, when the 2021 T20 champs lost Cummins and Hazlewood, they dialled an SOS call to Starc, who simply denied the proposal. Instead, Australia went ahead with the likes of Ben Dwarshius, Xavier Bartlett and Nathan Ellis to fill the void.
Unfortunately for them, the bowling looked extremely weak. While the batting failed to deliver on their pedigree, the bowling was subpar enough that they managed to take just two wickets against Zimbabwe. Against Sri Lanka, in a must-win clash, Australia again managed just a couple of wickets, one of which came when the game was all but done.
Desperate Australia asked Mitchell Starc to make T20 retirement U-turn for World Cup Inside Sport India.
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