NEW DELHI: Fast bowler Josh Hazlewood doesn't think Australia's ageing team needs a significant overhaul, even though they didn't reach the T20 World Cup semi-finals.
Australia's chances of making the last four were slim after losing to India by 24 runs in Saint Lucia on Monday. Afghanistan's stunning win against Bangladesh sealed their fate.
When the next World Cup is held in India and Sri Lanka in 2026, Cameron Green will be the only player from the current 15-man squad who will be significantly younger than 30.
Despite being a 24-year-old all-rounder, Green didn't get the opportunity to play in this World Cup.
"There might be a couple of changes, but a lot of the guys still play in the franchise cricket if they're not playing for Australia, so they're available to be picked," AFP quoted Hazlewood, who himself is 33 years old.
"There's some class players in our 15, And we've got a couple on the bench as well. So, you'd think it'd be an actual slow change. I don't think there'd be anything drastic."
Australia's fielding performance during the tournament was abysmal and required immediate attention.
In the match against Afghanistan in St Vincent, which resulted in a 21-run loss, the Australian team dropped a total of five catches.
Skipper Mitchell Marsh dropped three catches in the Scotland game, and also let the destructive Hardik Pandya off the hook in the loss to India.
The missed opportunity to dismiss Pandya proved costly, as he went on to score an unbeaten 27 runs off just 17 deliveries, significantly contributing to India's victory.
"The guys are always working as hard as ever on the fielding and training and there might not be as many opportunities to work on it around games in these sort of tournaments," said Hazlewood.
"You're always travelling and playing. So yeah, it hasn't been good enough for the last few games in particular."
Hazlewood mentioned that the conditions in St Lucia were challenging on Monday, with strong winds potentially playing a role in the team's fielding performance, which was below their usual standards.
"It's just as hard catching into the wind as it is down breeze, as we saw today with India as well," he said.
"So, you see some really good fielders drop catches and I guess it's out of the ordinary but I think once you put all that together, new stadium, windy, they're not excuses but I guess it's something."
