New Delhi, Feb 3 (IANS) Australia’s fast-bowling spearhead Pat Cummins has revealed that he came very close to being part of the T20 World Cup 2026 squad, but a minor delay in his recovery ruled him out of the final 15-team squad.

Cummins was replaced by Ben Dwarshuis in Australia’s squad for the mega tournament, which begins on February 7, due to an ongoing back issue. The right-arm pacer said he was feeling good physically but simply did not have enough time to complete his recovery.

"It was really unfortunate. I feel pretty good, just a minor setback, and just ran out of time, really. I'll rest up for a few weeks and go from there," Cummins said to AAP, as quoted by the ICC.

The Australian captain explained that after the Adelaide Test, the medical team felt his back needed between four and eight weeks of rest before he could build up his workload again.

"We knew after the (Adelaide) Test match we were going to need somewhere between four and eight weeks to let the bone settle right down before then building back up. Initially, we thought it might only be four weeks, because I was feeling really good, but just had a follow-up scan," he said.

"They thought it probably needed another couple of weeks, so the timeline just became a bit too tight," he added.

Cummins is now hopeful of returning to competitive action during the Indian Premier League (IPL) in March, but stressed that his main focus is being fully fit for a busy test calendar later in the year.

Australia has a packed schedule ahead, with home tests against Bangladesh, an away series in South Africa, followed by multiple matches against New Zealand and India before the current World Test Championship cycle ends.

"We thought the first half of the year was a pretty good time to be conservative with the amount of cricket that's coming up. We'll get it right, then hopefully that will mean you won't have to worry about it, and you can just go out and play all those Test matches," he explained.

"Whereas, if you're not careful with it now and it flares up, you're chasing your tail a bit," Cummins added.

Despite missing the World Cup, Cummins backed Australia to perform strongly in the tournament. He said the recent T20I series loss to Pakistan does not reflect the true quality of the squad.

"It wasn't our greatest few games (in Pakistan), but the guys are coming off a strong Big Bash, and a couple of guys are coming back from injury for the World Cup," Cummins said.

"Morale is good. Chatting to a few of the boys from afar… they know how big it is, they're desperate to get started and get into it," he added.

The 2021 T20 World Cup champions will face Ireland, Zimbabwe, Oman and co-hosts Sri Lanka in their group-stage matches.

--IANS

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