New Zealand suffers a major setback ahead of the T20 World Cup, with star player ruled out of the tournament.

Adam Milne ruled out of T20 World Cup: New Zealand have suffered a major setback ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup. Star fast bowler Adam Milne has been ruled out of the T20 World Cup due to a left hamstring injury. Milne suffered the injury on Sunday while playing in the SA20, South African cricket’s domestic Twenty20 tournament. He plays for Sunrisers Eastern Cape. Kyle Jamieson has been included in the squad in his place.

Scans reportedly revealed the injury is serious enough to rule him out of the entire tournament, and he will be replaced by fellow fast bowler Kyle Jamieson for the 20-over tournament. New Zealand has already confirmed that Jamieson will replace Milne in the T20 World Cup squad, and the right-armer is currently playing in the white-ball series on the Black Caps’ tour of India. The 31-year-old was originally selected as the Kiwis’ traveling reserve for the tournament, scheduled to take place in India and Sri Lanka in February-March.

New Zealand team coach Rob Walter said in a statement, “We are all deeply saddened for Adam. He worked very hard to prepare for the tournament and looked in top form in his eight matches for the Eastern Cape Sunrisers. This is a very unfortunate time for Adam and we wish him a speedy recovery.” Walter added, “It’s great that Kyle is already with us in India. He is an important part of our pace-bowling group and has performed well since arriving on this tour.”

Regarding Jamieson, the Kiwi coach also said, “He is a very hard worker and has good skills and experience that will be very useful to him in the tournament.” Walter also confirmed that a replacement traveling reserve for the T20 World Cup will be announced soon. New Zealand will play their first T20 World Cup match against Afghanistan in Chennai on February 8.