Former Australia captain Ian Chappell has given his honest assessment of Usman Khwaja’s chances during the upcoming Ashes series against England.
A good run in this season’s Sheffield Shield has led to speculation that Usman Khawaja could be recalled to Australia’s Test side. The left-hander is currently the leading run-scorer in the Shield with 326 runs at an average of 81.50, with two centuries to his name so far. He has batted at No.4 for Queensland as well as captaining the side.
Khawaja’s last appearance for Australia came in the third Test of the 2019 Ashes, paying the price for Ben Stokes’ heroics despite making a century in his last innings before that series, against Sri Lanka at Canberra. Less than a year prior, he played what many consider his defining Test innings, saving Australia’s first Test after the ball-tampering scandal with 141 against Pakistan.
Overall, he averages 40.66 in Tests with eight hundreds, and in the eyes of some he is an unfulfilled talent, despite those impressive numbers. However, Chappell has delivered a stinging critique of Khawaja, which will come as a significant blow considering the weight his opinion carries in Australian cricket.
In an interview with Wide World of Sports, Chappell said, “I think everyone knows Usman Khawaja can make hundreds against that standard of bowling. But I’m not convinced that he’s going to make it against an England attack.
“I really think his horse has bolted. I’m not convinced that Khawaja is a good enough player… Khawaja’s a good player against mediocre bowling, but against good bowling I don’t think there’s much future there.”
While less overtly critical, Mark Taylor, another former Australia captain, feels Khawaja would not be the right option for Australia.
“Travis Head has started the season very well, albeit against oppositions that doesn’t have the Test or T20 players in it and on what looks to be pretty good pitches around Adelaide,” he said on Sports Sunday. “At the end of the day, I think it is going to come down to Khawaja, Head and Marcus Harris – they’ve all been tried and no one has nailed it down.
“We will probably have to go to one of them again in a few weeks’ time. I would roll the dice with Travis Head and give him one more go. He is younger, he is 27 and I thought he played quite well in a couple of innings in England in the 2019 series. If he turned one of those fifties into Test match hundreds, that would be considered in my book as a quality Test match hundred. That’s what Travis Head doesn’t have to his name, but I would give him one more opportunity.”
The Ashes begins on December 8.
