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Former Australian captain Michael Clarke says there is no need for Usman Khawaja to return to the side in Adelaide, although he believes the selectors will recall him for the third Test. Khawaja was ruled out of the Gabba Test after failing to recover from the back spasms he suffered in Perth, where he was forced down to No. 4 in the first innings and was then unable to bat in the second after a recurrence of the injury. That meant Travis Head got the chance to open the batting with Weatherald in the second test. where they added 75, with the pair continuing in Brisbane where an opening stand of 77 set the tone for Australia’s first innings.
Think the selectors will pick him,” Clarke told ESPN’s Around The Wicket. “I think he’ll be back at the top of the order. I don’t know if I would make a change, to be honest. I think I’ve said before, normally with senior players like that and certainly when you get to that age, you’re selected for big tournaments, either a World Cup or an Ashes series, and at the end of those, your time is done.
“Australia are 2-0 up. We’ve got someone at the top of the order that scored an unbelievable hundred. I don’t know if they need to go back to that now. I know that might be hard on Uzzy because he’s had a wonderful career and been a big player. “His spot wasn’t spoken about before a ball was bowled in this this series, but things have changed. Australia’s dominating, their style of play is working, so I don’t know if I would go back to that.” Said Clarke.
While Khawaja had long been locked into Australia’s plans at the top of the order, there had been scrutiny over his form with a downward trend since the 2023 Ashes. He is averaging 31.84 since that series with one hundred in 45 innings. While Australian coach has opened the possibilities of Khawaja even batting at 5 if needed. The third match of the Ashes starts on December 17 with Australia looking to retain the urn.
