Usman Khawaja makes eye-opening call on retirement amid Aussie star's worrying form slump
The Aussie opener would ideally like to finish his career following next year's Ashes series.
Usman Khawaja has voiced his desire to continue playing until at least the end of next year's Ashes series but admitted it would depend on his form. The Australian opener came into the Aussie summer at no risk of being dropped from the side. But after failing with the bat in the first two games of the Border Gavaskar series against India, that is no longer the case.
Khawaja fell cheaply for 13 in the first innings of the Adelaide Test before making 9 not out in the second. While in Perth, he was dismissed for 8 and 4. And selectors are surely beginning to ponder whether it is time for some new blood, especially given that he is 37 and his retirement is just around the corner.
Addressing his form and when he may hang up the gloves, Khawaja said if it was up to him, he would ideally like to continue at least until the end of next summer's Ashes series. If that is the case it opens up the possibility of Khawaja ending his Test career on the same ground it started some 13 years ago at the SCG, a poetic ending to what has been an up-and-down career.
Speaking about his future in the sport at the inaugural Usman Khawaja Foundation lunch in Brisbane on Thursday, the opener said he hopes he can finish his career on the ground he knows so well after growing up in western Sydney against Australia's oldest foe, England. “If everything is going well there is no reason why I would not want to play another summer in Australia. My body is good, my mind is good and I am still hitting the ball well," he said, according to The Daily Telegraph.
"It (a series against India) is awesome to play, it’s massive but the pride and joy and tradition of playing in the Ashes, there’s nothing like it. The emotion involved, you saw it last Ashes both on and off the field, there’s just so much involved with it. It’s pretty special."
And despite Khawaja's poor run of form, the 37-year-old believes his spot isn't under any threat for the time being. “We have won seven of the last nine games that we have played,” he said. “What I know is that we are doing better than what the opposition are doing. In the last nine games, not one game has gone to five days.
“It has obviously been tough work for batters in general but that (the results) is all I focus on. The batsmen are still doing what they need to. I batted (lasted) the first session pretty much every single first innings last year which pretty much set up the game for the team.’’
Steve Smith and Marnus Labushagne struggle to find form
However, whether Khawaja continues through next summer will be dependent on if he can shake his current form slump. After strong summers where he averaged 67 and 52, Khawaja has had a modest year so far averaging just 25 in seven Tests. But he is hardly the only Aussie batsman out of form, with both Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith struggling as well.
Much of the pressure was on Labuschagne's shoulders heading into the Adelaide Test but the 30-year-old stepped up under the bright lights for the first time this summer, with a 64 in the first innings. Amid a stretch of low returns - eight scores under 10 runs in his previous nine innings, it has staved off calls for him to be dropped for now. But if he fails again in the third Test in Brisbane, which begins on Saturday, the calls for him to be cut will grow once more.
Arguably the most under-pressure and out-of-form batsman in the Test side is Smith, who is averaging just 17.4 runs in his last nine innings. In the second Test, he was again dismissed cheaply knicking off down leg for 2 and his spot is under threat despite him being one of Australia's greatest-ever batters.
