Australia captain Pat Cummins has admitted that it would be hard to overlook Usman Khawaja for the fifth and final Test of the ongoing Ashes 2021-22 against England after the batter made a fairytale comeback to Test cricket with twin hundreds in the fourth Test at the SCG.
Khawaja was recalled to Australia’s Test side after two and a half years for the fourth Ashes Test against England after Travis Head had tested positive for COVID-19, and the left-hander grabbed the opportunity with both hands, hitting a century in both innings at the SCG.
The 35-year-old made 137 off 260 balls in the first innings, followed by 101* off 138 balls in the second innings of the fourth Test to win the player of the match award on Sunday (January 9).
Travis Head is now fit and ready to rejoin the Australian camp for the final Ashes Test, a day-night affair, starting on January 14 in Hobart, and even Khawaja stated that he didn’t expect to be retained for the fifth Test.
Skipper Pat Cummins insisted that it would be hard to drop the batter following his remarkable comeback knocks. He said: "I'll preface it by saying I'm not a selector, but when someone comes out and hits twin hundreds, it's pretty hard to go past them for the week after.
So we'll work through that, the selectors will work through that in the next few days. But when someone's running hot, has got a heap of experience like Uzzy, the way he plays is fantastic.”
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Meanwhile, Head was also in good touch in the ongoing Ashes series, hitting a match-winning century in the first Test and is likely to be recalled for the final Test, but Khawaja may be retained, given his ability to bat anywhere in the top order and Marcus Harris’ struggle with the bat.
Hailing Khawaja's versatility, Cummins said: “I guess that's why he was the spare batter and picked in the squad originally. It felt like he could replace any batter one-to-six really well. He's hugely versatile.”
He signed off by saying, “I know there’s been a question mark historically on him playing over in Asia, but you see how well he's played spin recently. Reverse sweeping, sweeping. He's just someone who is in total command of his game, and that's why you love the experience.”
(With Reuters Inputs)
