Melbourne, Feb. 18 -- Australian selector Tony Dodemaide defended the decision to leave out ace pacers Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood in the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup.

Dodemaide's comments came after Australia was eliminated from the T20 World Cup. The group-stage elimination came as a major surprise for one of the tournament favourites.

The Australian selector Dodemaide said Hazlewood and Cummins would have skipped the Indian Premier League (IPL) if the schedule had been reversed.

Hazlewood is struggling to overcome Achilles and calf issues after initially suffering a hamstring injury on November 12. Cummins, on the other hand, hasn't played since his lone appearance in the third Ashes Test in mid-December. He opted to skip the ...