Ricky Ponting, the former Australia skipper feels Usman Khawaja can replace David Warner for the second Ashes Test if the opening batter is ruled out of the game due to an injury.
England and Australia’s 1st Ashes 2021/22 Test concluded with a convincing win for Australia. David Warner on Friday did not take the field after receiving blows on the chest while batting on day two of the first Test. He also didn’t come out to open in the 2nd innings to chase a small 20 runs target.
Ricky Ponting In Favour To Give Usman Khawaja A Chance To Open If David Warner Is Unfit For The 2nd Test
“If (Warner) can’t play, I think it’s probably Khawaja that goes in and opens the batting. Although he hasn’t done it the last couple years for Queensland he’s done it for Australia before,” Ricky Ponting was quoted as saying.
“It’s a worry that he’s not out there at all. We’ll have a better idea when he bats or if he bats at all in the second innings,” said Ricky Ponting.
“I noticed that after he got hit, he came out after one of the breaks and you could see that he had a little (chest), guard, over that area. I got a bit worried about it then because I’ve never seen him with a chest guard on before,” Ricky Ponting added.
“Even if it’s just bruising, I would think that he’d be out there fielding so there might be a bit more to it than what we’re hearing,” Ricky Ponting further said.
David Warner was injured when hit in the ribs while making 94 in Australia’s first innings.
Australia Won The 1st Ashes 2021/22 Test After Travis Head’s 152
Coming to the game, Joe Root and Dawid Malan kept staged England’s fightback as the two batters steadied the visitors’ ship by the end of Day 3 of the ongoing first Ashes Test here at the Gabba, Brisbane on Friday. At the Stumps, England’s score read 220/2– trailing by 58 runs. Dawid Malan and Joe Root have played unbeaten knocks of 80 and 86 runs respectively. England collapsed from 223-2 to 297 all out on day four.
Australia was bowled out for 425, taking a 278-run lead in the first innings of the ongoing first Ashes Test in Brisbane. Nathan Lyon, skipper Pat Cummins, David Warner, and Travis Head were the standout performers as Australia defeated England by nine wickets in the first Ashes 2021/22 Test at the Gabba, Brisbane on Saturday.
Chasing 20, Alex Carey (9) and Marcus Harris (9*) made light work of the 20 run target chase and the hosts registered victory in just 5.1 overs. Earlier, Travis Head took just 85 balls to reach triple figures and smashed the England bowlers all over the park. His knock of 152 off just 148 balls was laced with 14 boundaries and four sixes.
The 34-year-old Usman Khawaja’s last Test was against England in the Headingley Test in 2019, made famous by Ben Stokes’ match-winning innings of 135. Usman Khawaja has averaged 40.66 in 44 Tests, with eight centuries and fourteen 50s.
Usman Khawaja was recalled to Australia‘s 15-man squad to face England in the 2021-22 Ashes series, while Alex Carey was a late addition after regular skipper Tim Paine stepped away from the sport to take an “indefinite mental health break”.