Australian batter Usman Khawaja has made a remarkable comeback to Test cricket, hitting centuries in both innings to put the hosts in a commanding position against England in the ongoing fourth Test of the Ashes 2021-22 at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), Sydney.
After Travis Head had tested positive for COVID-19, Khawaja was called up to Australia’s Test side for the ongoing fourth Ashes Test and the left-hander grabbed the opportunity with both hands, smashing 137 and 101* against England in the first and second innings respectively at the SCG.
Well, following his fairytale comeback to the Australian Test side, Khawaja –who is playing his first Test after two and half years – feels his performance at the SCG may have extended his "Australian dream", but he doesn’t expect to be retained for the fifth and final Ashes Test against England in Hobart.
Read Also: Ashes 2021-22: WATCH - Usman Khawaja survives a surprising bouncer by Joe Root
Khawaja told reporters: “At the moment I'm not really expecting to play the next Test match, but I'll always be ready for whatever happens. Who knows, someone else might get COVID, something might happen. You got to stay ready.”
The 35-year-old has frequently been in and out of the Test side, but he has no complaint regarding the same, and even he backed the idea for stability in team selection.
He further added, “Once you get selected for Australia, I think you should get a fair crack at it for a while. You put all that hard effort to get up there and to be selected. I've been on both sides. I've been dropped and picked and dropped and picked. I really enjoyed the process and the conversations the selectors had with the players.”
Meanwhile, Australia may replace the out-of-form Marcus Harris with Khawaja, given his current red-hit form with the bat for the final Ashes Test in Hobart, starting from January 14.
Speaking on the same, Khawaja said: “In the future maybe. I batted at five in this Test match; it was a lot of fun and got runs. You can't really compare five to opening.”
On the other hand, Scott Boland is also making the most of the opportunity offered by an injury (side strain) to Josh Hazlewood and he is likely to retain his place in the final Ashes Test against England.
Khawaja signed off by saying, “He was obviously going to be dropped if Josh Hazlewood was fit. That was just the reality of it and it sucks, but that's cricket.”
(With Reuters Inputs)
