T20 WC: Ireland's Paul Stirling ruled out with knee injury
What's the story
Ireland's captain Paul Stirling has been ruled out of the ongoing 2026 ICC T20 World Cup due to a knee injury. The announcement was made by Cricket Ireland on Friday. Stirling suffered the injury while attempting a diving catch in the seventh over of Australia's innings during their match on Thursday. He had to leave the field and hand over captaincy duties to his deputy, Lorcan Tucker.
Injury impact
Ligament damage
Stirling injured his right knee while taking a catch off Australian opener Josh Inglis in the seventh over. He returned to bat in the run chase but had to retire hurt after his knee buckled while attempting a single. Cricket Ireland's Director of High Performance Graeme West confirmed that Stirling has been ruled out of the tournament due to ligament damage. Notably, Paul Stirling is Ireland's highest run-scorer in T20Is, having tallied 3,895 runs at 26.31.
Replacement player
Sam Topping replaces Stirling
Ireland have called up 20-year-old uncapped wicketkeeper-batter Sam Topping to replace Stirling. Topping was in Chennai with the Northern Knights squad for an off-season training camp. He had a good domestic season last year, scoring 217 runs at an average of 31.00 in T20s with a strike rate of 140. His inclusion is crucial as Ben Calitz is also nursing a hand injury from the last match.
Future outlook
Can Ireland qualify for Super Eights?
Stirling's condition doesn't look good, according to Ireland batting coach Gary Wilson. He said they are waiting for confirmation after an X-ray was done on Wednesday night. Despite losing their first two matches to Sri Lanka and Australia at Khettarama, Ireland still have a statistical chance of making it to the Super Eights. Their next match is against Oman on Saturday at SSC before heading to Kandy for a clash with Zimbabwe at Pallekele on Tuesday.