Steve Smith officially called into Australia's T20 World Cup amid injury carnage

Steve Smith has officially been approved by the ICC to join Australia's T20 World Cup squad, replacing the injured Josh Hazlewood.

Sean Abbott was in Australia's squad as a cover, too, but selectors have opted for Smith after an injury to Mitch Marsh before the side's opening clash with Ireland.

The replacement of a player in a squad for the T20 World Cup must be approved by the event technical committee.

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Australian selector Tony Dodemaide explained the decision to call up Smith related to Marsh's injury and Marcus Stoinis' fitness after he copped a blow to the hand against Zimbabwe.

"With Steve here, along with some uncertainty around Mitch and Marcus Stoinis, it made sense he (Smith) is activated and available for selection in time for the match, if required," he said.

Marsh was sidelined earlier in the tournament after assistant coach Matthew Wade delivered a throwdown during a training session that struck Marsh in the box.

The impact was severe enough to cause internal testicular bleeding, forcing the star all-rounder to withdraw from Australia's opening clash of the T20 World Cup and resulting in Smith being summoned to Colombo as cover.

While the incident initially appeared to be a routine blow to the groin during a net session in the lead-up to the Aussie opener against Ireland, the true severity of Marsh's injury soon became apparent.

Despite the scare, Marsh returned to training and appeared fit to take his spot in the XI. However, as his discomfort persisted, scans revealed the grim reality — ruling him out of the tournament's opening stages.

Consequently, Smith flew to Sri Lanka — departing directly from the LIV Golf pro-am at Grange in Adelaide — to join the squad.

Pace bowler Nathan Ellis expressed sympathy for Marsh's painful condition.

"He's been a little bit sore over the last few days, so poor bugger, you don't envy a man in that position," he said after Australia's 67-run victory against Ireland.

"We sort of got an inkling probably yesterday, and it sort of played out today, so never a great scenario for the team when you lose a captain, but also for the person who goes to bed last night thinking they're not playing and then has to come in.

"But in terms of disruption with the team, we've got the easiest, most easy-going group in the world. Travis Head stepped in as captain, and his heart rate probably doesn't get above 25 at the best of times. So yeah, thankfully, obviously, we all want Mitchy there, and we love Mitchy leading us. But yeah, it wasn't spoken about too much, and we just tried to hit the ground running."

Marsh did not play against Zimbabwe either.