Zimbabwe veteran Brendan Taylor ruled out of T20 WC due to injury, Ben Curran named as replacement

In a massive blow to Zimbabwe, veteran wicketkeeper-batter Brendan Taylor has been ruled out of the ongoing T20 World Cup due to hamstring injury, and will be replaced by Ben Curran in the squad. The 40-year-old Taylor had limped off the ground after retiring hurt in the match against Oman, which they had won by eight wickets here on February 9. ''Brendan Taylor picked up an injury and he's been ruled out of the competition,'' captain Sikandar Raza said at the toss before Zimbabwe's match against Australia here on Friday. Top-order batter Curran, brother of England all-rounder Sam, was approved as Taylor's replacement by the Event Technical Committee of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026. ''Curran was named as a replacement when Taylor was ruled out after sustaining a right hamstring injury during the match against Oman on 9 February,'' the ICC said in a statement. The replacement of a player, however, requires the approval of the Event Technical Committee before the replacement player can be officially added to the squad. Taylor was struggling while running between the wickets and was promptly taken off (retired hurt) after making 31 off 30 balls during Zimbabwe's run chase against Oman. Raza had later said that he did not want to aggravate the problem considering Taylor's importance to the team. Taylor has played 36 Tests, 207 ODIs and 59 T20Is since making his Zimbabwe debut in 2004. He was retired hurt in his previous T20 innings last month as well. This is the third time he retired hurt in his last five T20 innings. Pacer Richard Ngarava also sat out of Friday's Australia match as a precautionary measure. ''Richard Ngarava is more of a precautionary measure. His first scan and second scan has come back pretty positive. So he misses out today as well,'' Raza said at the toss.