Australian batsman Usman Khawaja will miss the birth of his second child as it will coincide with the Pakistan tour. Khawaja recently made a comeback in Test cricket as he would like to cement his place in the side.
On Tuesday, Cricket Australia announced a full-strength squad of 18 members as Australia is set to tour Pakistan for the first time after 23 years. The tour consists of 3 Tests, 3 ODIs, and one T20I. Khawaja made a return to the test side in the new year test at Sydney as he scored twin hundreds in the match. So he doesn’t want to lose the position again.
Usman Khawaja scored twin hundreds at Sydney on his return to Test Cricket
Speaking to Cricket Australia, Khawaja said that his wife knows that cricket is his priority and she would support him in this regard.
“She’s very understanding; she knows I love playing cricket; it’s very important to me; she’s very supportive of that, and she knows I try to support her any way I can. It’s going to take me a lot to come back; it is Test cricket for Australia,” Khawaja said.
“I’m sort of not thinking about it because I don’t want it to happen, but ask me if it does happen. I’ve still got a lot of family in Karachi. I was obviously born there, so it’ll be a nice, special moment to go over there and tick the last part of the subcontinent off. I think it will be great for Australian cricket too,” he added.
The first test will be played at Rawalpindi from March 4.
Meanwhile, Australian selector George Bailey has confirmed that Warner and Khawaja would be the first choice openers and Marcus Harris will travel with the side as reserving opener.
“I certainly think David Warner and Khawaja would most likely start as the openers in Pakistan. But we’re also aware – not that age is a be-all and end-all barrier – that both Uz and Bull are around 35.
“We’ve got a lot of subcontinent cricket coming up over the next 12-18 months, so it’s important to keep focusing on a bit of a succession plan and developing Harry’s skills. He’s the spare opener there,” Bailey spoke to Cricket.com.au.
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