Delhi: If we look at the Australian team which is continuously performing brilliantly, a warning is clearly visible, but amidst the success, perhaps even Australia itself is not paying much attention to it. This is a warning about the increasing age of the team's players. For this reason, now the Australian team is also being called 'Dad's Army'.

The team that Australia has selected for the Test series against Bangladesh has only one player below the age of 30 years. Experts believe that if this thinking continues then it may affect Australia till the Ashes next summer.

Australia again expressed confidence in experienced players

Australia has again selected opener Jake Weatherald in the team. He made his Test debut in the last Ashes and is now 31 years old. It was expected that the selectors would give a chance to a young player in his place, but even against a team like Bangladesh, Australia did not show much interest in trying the youth.

In the team of 13 players, 38 year old Nathan Lyon, 37 year old Steve Smith and Scott Boland, 36 year old Mitchell Starc and 35 year old Josh Hazlewood are among the oldest players.

Apart from this, Jake Weatherald and Josh English are 31 years old. Alex Carey is 34, Pat Cummins is 33 and Marnus Labuschagne, Travis Head and Beau Webster are 32-32 years old. Only Cameron Green is 27 years old in the team.

Australia is getting benefits despite age

If we look at history, Australia's reliance on experienced players is nothing new. The team has given opportunities to players even in the last stages of their careers and players like Michael Hussey, Chris Rogers and Adam Vojas proved this trust justified.

Even in the current team, players like Scott Boland and 36-year-old Michael Neser have proved to be good options in place of injured fast bowlers.

Captain Pat Cummins is also 33 years old and is the youngest in Australia's main bowling unit. Despite fitness problems, he remains the first choice of the team.

Questions are being raised on the decision of the selectors

Former Australian captain Steve Waugh has also raised questions on this thinking of the selectors. However, chief selector George Bailey says that no player can be dropped from the team on the basis of age alone. If the player is performing well then he should get a chance.

This is the basis of the thinking of the Australian selectors. The key bowlers of the team are still performing well, so it is not easy to decide to remove them just by looking at their age.

Is Australia losing an entire generation?

Now a question is increasingly being raised in Australian cricket whether the team is delaying in giving opportunities to young players. Even against Bangladesh, if there is only one player under 30 years of age in the team, then it is natural to be worried about the times to come.

Especially when Australia has to face strong teams like South Africa, New Zealand, India and England in the next 12 months.

However, the selectors have not completely ignored the youth. Before the Bangladesh series, 20 year old Sam Constance and 23 year old Campbell Kellaway have been selected in the Cricket Australia Invitation Team. But 33 year old Curtis Patterson has got a place in this team also.

Same player even after defeat in India and England

Australia had missed a good opportunity to win the series on the tour of India and England in 2023. In India it lost 2-1, while in England the series was drawn 2-2.

Australia came close to victory in both the series. Now the selectors are trying to complete that incomplete work with the same experienced players.

Australia last won a Test series in India in 2004 and in England in 2001. In such a situation, the selectors want to end the long wait in these two countries on the basis of experienced players.

Need change now?

There is no dearth of experience in the current Australian team, but age and fitness are now becoming big questions. Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon have faced injuries and fitness problems.

Marnus Labuschagne has also not been able to score a century in the last 21 Test matches and his average has been only 25.75. Whereas Cameron Green has not yet been able to make the expected impact as a Test all-rounder.

Australia is probably relying on its current strength by fielding an experienced team against Bangladesh, but the real question is whether this team will be able to keep Australia strong for the next many years. Now the challenge before the selectors is to strike the right balance between experience and young players.