Melbourne [Australia], February 18 (ANI): 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skip the remainder of the Ashes series to protect his back from lumbar stress, with the T20 World Cup in mind, but was withdrawn from the initial squad.

Despite missing the T20 World Cup, it appears very likely that both will be fit for the IP, barring any further setbacks.

'It is what it is,' selector Tony Dodemaide told reporters on a call on Wednesday, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

'It's a timing issue. If it were in reverse, the IPL was first, and the World Cup was second, then they'd be missing the IPL to play in the World Cup. It's not going to be frustrating for us at all. We know their commitment to want to play and succeed for Australia,' he added.

Australia were eliminated from the tournament after Zimbabwe qualified for the Super Eight stage following their Group match against Ireland in Pallekele, which was abandoned due to rain on Tuesday.

Australia is having a forgetful campaign in the ongoing T20 World Cup. The Men in Yellow suffered a 23-run win over Australia, before co-hosts Sri Lanka thrashed them by eight wickets.

The Mitchell Marsh-led side will look to end their campaign on a positive note when they face Oman in their final group stage match on February 20 in Pallekele. (ANI)