T20 World Cup 2026: Italy skipper Wayne Madsen dislocates shoulder in opener against Scotland
Wayne Madsen (Source: X/@ItalyCricket)
Published - 09 Feb 2026, 11:12 AM• Read time - 2 mins
Italy had a terrible start to their first-ever T20 World Cup campaign as their captain Wayne Madsen dislocated his shoulder while fielding at midwicket against Scotland. The incident occurred off the second ball of the fourth over when Madsen dived to his left unsuccessfully to stop a boundary and landed on the practice pitches.
The Italy skipper was in immense pain immediately after and called on the medical personnel to tend to him. Madsen soon left the field and Harry Manenti took over the captaincy duties subsequently for the rest of the Scotland innings.
As per reports, Madsen was taken for an X-ray at the venue itself. The injury may keep the full-time Italy captain out of action for at least a fortnight to four months depending upon the seriousness of it.
Madsen, aged 42, is the most experienced Italy player at the tournament. The South Africa-born is a right-hand batter who has played seven T20Is for Italy, scoring 205 runs at an average of 34.16 and a strike rate of 132.25. The veteran has two half centuries to his name as well and a highest score of 61* against Ireland achieved last month in Dubai.
Notably, Madsen represented South Africa in hockey in the 2006 World Cup held in Germany. For the ongoing T20 World Cup, the senior player was the original choice for captaincy. It was only when Australia-born Joe Burns was not selected that Madsen was appointed skipper.
Scotland set a target of 208
Earlier in the game today, Madsen won the toss and elected to field first at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The Scots got off to an excellent start as the openers scored 91 runs in the first 10 overs. The opening partnership crossed the 100-run mark eight balls later as the troubles mounted for the Italians in their maiden T20 World Cup clash.
Grant Stewart provided Italy with their first breakthrough, but the Scots never lost their momentum as they scored 71 runs in the last five overs to reach 207/4. For Italy, Ali Hasan was the best bowler as the 23-year-old produced figures of 1/21.
