Australia's T20 World Cup campaign has been thrown into a surprising controversy following comments by pace bowler Josh Hazlewood. Hazlewood suggested that defeating Scotland by a specific margin could be strategically beneficial for Australia, with the intention of knocking arch-rivals England out of the tournament.

Hazlewood's remarks, made after Australia's win over Namibia, have placed captain Mitchell Marsh in a difficult position. The pacer acknowledged England's strength in T20 cricket and Australia's past struggles against them. He proposed that manipulating the win against Scotland to influence the points table could be advantageous for Australia's future prospects.

"Getting them [England] out of the tournament would be in our best interest," Hazlewood said. "It'll be interesting to see how we proceed, but such decisions would be left to other individuals."

However, this strategy could backfire for Australia. The ICC's code of conduct (Article 2.11) strictly prohibits manipulating matches for strategic reasons. If found guilty, Marsh could face a suspension of up to two matches in the Super Eight stage.

The ramifications could be significant, potentially derailing Australia's World Cup hopes. The Level Two offense, as per the code, carries penalties ranging from fines to demerit points and suspension.

The fallout from Hazlewood's comments casts a shadow over Australia's T20 World Cup campaign. Marsh must navigate this controversy while ensuring his team focuses on playing competitively against Scotland.