Italy captain Wayne Madsen dislocated his shoulder while fielding against Scotland
He is the 2nd most aged cricketer to captain a side in T20 World Cup history
Italy lost their first match to Scotland by 73 runs
Italy made their much-awaited Cricket World Cup debut when they played against Scotland at the iconic Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata on February 9, 2026.
However, their maiden ICC World Cup outing wasn't to be a fairy tale as they got thrashed by 73 runs, but it turned out to be even worse when their captain Wayne Madsen got his shoulder dislocated while making a fielding effort.
Madsen dived while fielding to stop a pull shot from George Munsey but unfortunately fell on the practice pitches at an awkward angle, leading to dislocation of his left shoulder. He was immediately given medical attention and was seen leaving the field using a towel as a sling for his arm.
Wayne Madsen - South African-born Italian captain
Madsen was born in Durban, South Africa and played hockey in his initial years for KwaZulu-Natal. He even went on to represent their national hockey team as an international player before turning to the UK to become a full-time cricketer. There, he bagged a two-year contract from Derbyshire after hitting two centuries in his first four games.
He captained Derbyshire for four years before stepping down in 2016. He kept scoring heavily in the County Championship in England, including the 1273-run season, which was the highest that year among all divisions, but at 38, an England call-up seemed distant, so he used his Italian passport to feature for Italy in the ICC's European Regional Qualifier for the 2024 T20 World Cup.
Although they narrowly missed the bus, he kept on persisting and played a crucial role in leading Italy to their maiden T20 World Cup in India this year at the age of 42.
He also became the 2nd oldest person to lead a team in the T20 World Cup history after Khurram Khan's, who was the captain of UAE in the 2014 edition of the tournament.
Unfortunately, his further participation in the remaining World Cup seems quite unlikely as a typical shoulder dislocation takes anywhere from seven to twenty-one days to heal, while in more severe cases it could even take three to four months.
Italy will play their remaining group matches against Nepal in Mumbai on February 12 and will be back in Kolkata to face the West Indies and England on February 16 and 19, respectively.
