Australia Confirms Their XI For Sydney Test, Usman Khawaja Replaces Travis Head While Scott Boland Holds His Place

Jan 4, 2022 at 11:02 AM

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Australia Confirms Their XI For Sydney Test, Usman Khawaja Replaces Travis Head While Scott Boland Holds His Place

Australia has made one forced change in their XI for the 4th Test match as Usman Khawaja has replaced middle-order batter Travis Head who was ruled out for this match after testing positive for Covid-19. Meanwhile, pacer Scott Boland has been retained in the XI as Josh Hazlewood still hasn’t recovered from injury.

The hosts are currently leading the series by 3-0 with three comprehensive wins as Australia will be chasing the dream of another whitewash.

Usman Khawaja (File pic)

On Tuesday Australia captain Pat Cummins confirmed that Josh Hazlewood and Jhye Richardson hadn’t recovered yet.

“Just not quite up to 100%. We gave (Hazlewood) every chance we could. We just felt like he couldn’t quite bowl at full tilt yesterday,” Cummins spoke to reports on eve of the 4th Test.

“It’s no secret that if Joshy Hazlewood was available then he was going to play, He’s been just a brilliant bowler for us for a long period of time. We gave Josh every chance we could, just felt like he couldn’t bowl at full tilt yesterday. We’re still hoping he’ll be right for Hobart,”  he added

Australia.
Mitchell Swepson. Getty Images.

“I don’t think anywhere in Australia dictated two-spinner strategy”Cummins

However, Cummins is quite pleased that Scott Boland who was the player of the match in the Melbourne Test will get another go. Scott Boland returned with figures of 1/48 and 6/7 in his debut Test match at Melbourne.

“You need that disciplined stump-to-stump bowler and that’s what Scotty brings to the table. It would have been a real shame to see Scotty not play this week after his efforts last week. He’s bowling as well as he ever has, it’s great that he can keep going from last week,” Cummins said.

There were some talks that Australia might give Mitchell Swepson a chance since the Sydney surface offers something for the spinners. 

“I don’t think anywhere in Australia that I’ve played in the last two years has dictated a two-spinner, He’s a class bowler and we’re itching to get him into the side one day. We think he will debut at some stage, most likely overseas,” He added.

Australia will travel to Pakistan for 3 Tests, 3 ODIs and one T20I in March-April this year.

Australia: David Warner, Marcus Harris, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (captain), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland

Also read Ashley Giles Has A Huge Job On His Hands To Turn Around Our Fortunes In Red-Ball Cricket – Alastair Cook

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