India, Feb. 17 -- Senior Australia batter Steve Smith was on Monday approved as replacement for the injured pacer Josh Hazlewood, hours before his side's must-win T20 World Cup match against Sri Lanka. Smith thus becomes the 15th member of the injury-hit Australia squad. "Smith is named as a replacement for Hazlewood, who is now officially ruled out from participating in the tournament due to a calf injury.

The team's medical staff had hoped to have him fit in time to feature in the latter parts of the tournament but were unsuccessful," the ICC said in statement. Smith had earlier been flown to Sri Lanka as cover for skipper Mitchell Marsh, who missed Australia's opening two matches due to a testicular injury. The veteran batter trained ...