"Hasn't been good enough" - Josh Hazlewood laments Australia's poor fielding after consecutive defeats in T20 World Cup 2024
Australian new-ball seamer Josh Hazlewood admitted that fielding has been their Achilles heel in the last few games, pushing them on the brink of elimination in the T20 World Cup 2024. While the New South Wales cricketer cited wind as a significant factor in catches going down, he refused to use it as an excuse.
Australia's fielding has been found wanting in T20 World Cup 2024, starting with the fixture against Scotland when they shelled six catches. The 2021 World T20 champions erred in fielding also in the Super 8 game against Afghanistan, resulting in a 21-run defeat, and against India too, culminating in yet another loss.
Speaking at a post-match presser, Hazlewood stated that there has been no respite from the players when it comes to practicing fielding. As quoted by cricket.com.au, he remarked:
"It hasn't been good enough. I'm not sure what you can put it down to. The guys are always working as hard as ever on their fielding at training but there might not be as many opportunities to work on it at these tournaments. You're always travelling and playing. But it hasn't been good enough for the last few games in particular."
The 33-year-old, who snared figures of 4-0-14-1 against India, elaborated:
"One thing I guess here it's very, very windy. It's just as hard catching into the wind as it is down breeze, as we saw today with India as well.It's out of the ordinary but you put all that together – new stadium, windy – they're not excuses, but I guess it's something."
The captain himself had dropped a crucial catch in the 18th over of the innings sent down by Adam Zampa. With Hardik Pandya looking to hit big over the offside, he got an edge that ballooned to backward point, but Marsh missed a simple take. Pandya went on to strike a couple of sixes in the next over as India reached a match-winning total of 205.
"You play international cricket and you're always travelling" - Josh Hazlewood
Hazlewood also played down the short turnaround time between Australia's last two matches, claiming that it's part and parcel of the game.
"I think it was fine. You play international cricket and you're always travelling. I think the guys came ready this morning and we played pretty well for the majority of the game, I think they were just a bit more clinical a few areas. That's part of the game."
If Australia are to sneak into the semi-finals, they need Bangladesh to beat Afghanistan.