The ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 ended for Australia with an unsuccessful attempt to reach the Super 8 stage. The former champions were eliminated from the competition after their group matches ended with unfavorable results and their opponents achieved victory in their respective matches. Australia depended on both Sri Lanka and Ireland to defeat Zimbabwe for their qualification hopes to remain alive. Their chances ended when the Ireland vs Zimbabwe match on February 17 was abandoned because of the rain. The two teams ended the match with each team receiving one point, which allowed Zimbabwe to reach five points in the group. Australia still have one match left against Oman, but even a win will only take them to four points. This situation means they cannot achieve more points than Zimbabwe, who has already advanced to the next round of the competition. Australia faced two significant defeats during the group phase of the competition. The team suffered a loss to Sri Lanka and then experienced an unexpected defeat against Zimbabwe. The results proved detrimental and resulted in their tournament elimination. Also Read | Super 8 Qualification Scenarios of T20 World Cup 2026 Explained: 3 Teams in Race for Final Spot Sri Lanka Coaches Earn Praise for Their Contribution The coaching staff of Sri Lanka, which includes former India coaches Vikram Rathour and R. Sridhar, has shown successful results, as demonstrated by their strong performance throughout the tournament. The two coaches have made essential contributions toward developing the team’s batting and fielding abilities. Sri Lanka coach Sanath Jayasuriya praised their efforts and said: "R Sridhar is our fielding coach, he’s from India, and also Vikram Rathour is our batting coach. Both are really good gentlemen. They do whatever we want to do at practice, which is really good for fielding. With his IPL experience, he’s working with the players really well and gelling well. We have given a lot of confidence to the batters. Sometimes, as coaches, we may get desperate with the batting unit, but we still gave confidence to the players. Vikram and Sridhar were really good." Experience has made Sri Lanka a more confident team with better balance throughout the tournament. Also Read | Will Australia Need to Play Qualifiers for T20 World Cup 2028? Explained Vikram Rathour and R. Sridhar’s Coaching Journey Vikram Rathour held the position of India’s batting coach from 2019 until 2021. He played six Tests and seven ODIs for India and had a strong domestic career. After he retired from professional cricket, he took on the roles of selector and coach for domestic tournaments. R. Sridhar worked as India’s fielding coach between 2014 and 2021 while Ravi Shastri held the position of head coach. His tenure resulted in India developing into one of the world’s top fielding teams. He started his career at the National Cricket Academy before he became a member of Afghanistan’s coaching staff. Coaches keep using their knowledge and experience to help teams succeed at the highest level of competition. Australia needs to rebuild their team after their tournament exit to achieve future success.