Hazlewood dismisses need for major overhaul despite Australia’s T20 exit

Australia's fast bowler Josh Hazlewood has dismissed the need for major changes in the Australian cricket squad despite their early exit from the T20 World Cup 2024. 

The Australian team, known for its experienced players, lost to India by 24 runs in their final Super 8 match, ending their tournament hopes as Afghanistan's win over Bangladesh knocked them out.

Cameroon Green, aged 24, did not play any matches in this T20 World Cup, and by the next edition in 2026, he would be the only player from the current squad under 30 years old. Despite this, Hazlewood believes that the team doesn’t require drastic changes. He emphasized the importance of experience and noted that many of the players still actively participate in franchise cricket, making them viable selections for future matches.

"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," Hazlewood said.

"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," he further added.

However, Hazlewood did acknowledge that Australia's fielding was below par, particularly pointing out their performance in the 21-run loss to Afghanistan, where they dropped five catches. Captain Mitchell Marsh also missed a crucial catch of Hardik Pandya, which Hazlewood felt could have changed the game’s momentum.

"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. You're always travelling and playing. So yeah, it hasn't been good enough for the last few games in particular," he further added.

Hazlewood also mentioned that the windy conditions and unfamiliar stadiums might have contributed to the fielding errors but stressed that these should not be considered excuses.

"It's just as hard catching into the wind as it is down breeze, as we saw today with India as well. 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," he concluded.