38-year-old Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja has said that he is ready to retire from his Test career if it serves the national team. However, Usman Khawaja‘s recent performances have led to speculation about his future in cricket. Australia’s opening batter Usman Khawaja recently opened up on his retirement plans as he expressed his desire to play the Ashes later this year. In the recent Test series against India, all the members of the squad were above the age of 29 except debutants Nathan McSweeney and Sam Konstas.
Hence, the Aussie side is due for a transition in the coming years as a few senior players could well be seen hanging their boots. Usman Khawaja also acknowledged that his time could well be due in the coming years but expressed his desire to play for the country as long as he can.
Usman Khawaja’s impressive Test career & current performances sparks retirements calls
Usman Khawaja the left handed batter who has played 78 Tests (141 innings) has amassed 5,635 runs at an average of 44.02. Additionally, he owns 15 tons and 27 fifties while boasting a high score of 195* against South Africa in 2023. Overall, during the 2024 calendar year, Khawaja managed just 415 runs at an average of 25.93.
Notably, this was a drastic downfall in his numbers as compared 2023, 2022. Usman Khawaja also smashed two fifties (no tons) while his highest score read 75. Usman Khawaja’s future in cricket had been a talking point after he failed to shine in the first three India Tests. However, his performance improved drastically with new opening partner Sam Konstas. Meanwhile, he scored a half-century in the MCG Test win and contributed 41 runs in the SCG run chase, helping Australia reclaim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after a decade.
Meanwhile, Usman Khawaja hasn’t been in the best of forms since 2024 having scored 458 runs from ten matches (20 innings) at an average of 22.9 with two half-centuries. Usman Khawaja was last seen in action during the five-match Test series against India, where the Pat Cummins-led team secured a 3-1 victory.
The left-handed batter scored 184 runs at a dismal average of 20.44, with just one half-century in ten innings. He was dismissed by Jasprit Bumrah six times in nine innings. Following that Usman Khawaja had a tremendous series in Sri Lanka smashing double ton 232 to be exact in the first test match which somewhat silenced the critics all around.
Usman Khawaja has been a wonderful servant for Australian cricket but his time is almost up. The opener returned scores of 0 (off 20 balls) and 6 in the WTC final at Lord’s after struggling against India in the last Australian summer. A double ton in Sri Lanka bought Usman Khawaja some time but it’s clear his game is on the decline, his footwork and eye understandably on the wane as he approaches his 39th birthday.
Usman Khawaja was Australia’s leading run-scorer in the previous cycle, having slammed 1428 runs in 39 innings at 44.47 with two tons and six half-centuries. However, his dismissals to Kagiso Rabada at Lord’s reopened his struggles against pace bowling from round the wicket. He tallied a duck and six in the two innings in the final. Though there are talks about transition and retirement about Usman Khawaja doing rounds , Australia’s head coach Andrew McDonald has extended his full support for Usman Khawaja and expects him to come good.
Usman Khawaja is an important player- Andrew McDonald
Australia head coach Andrew McDonald is not ready to drop guards for under-fire opener and batting great Usman Khawaja despite his twin failures in the just-concluded WTC Final at the Lord’s. With Australia failing to defend their Test title against the Proteas, who claimed their maiden crown with a five-wicket win, the questions began to rise on Usman Khawaja’s future, considering his dip in form and age; McDonald, however, has backed him to retain his spot for the home Ashes later this year.
With Australia set to host England for five Tests, and given their ageing squad at the helm, the head coach stressed the need to work on acquiring new talent in the batting order but clarified his stance on Usman Khawaja’s role at the top. Though Marnus Labuschagne also received his backing, with McDonald calling him a ‘significant part of the team’s future’, his words for Khawaja were equally motivating, saying what he brings to the table at his best is irreplaceable.
While the Bumrah-led Indian pace attack troubled Usman Khawaja throughout the last home summer, the Aussie opener bounced back with his career-best 232 against Sri Lanka in the away series next, proving he still has plenty to offer. However, collecting just six runs across two innings against South Africa again brought his place in jeopardy, but McDonald seems unbothered by that.
“He’s on contract, he’s an important player,” McDonald said of Khawaja.
“He gives us stability at his best at the top. And we like to look at our players at their best.
“No doubt, a couple of failures here and people then start to talk about maybe it’s the end. I don’t see an end date with the way he’s training, the way he’s preparing, the way he’s moving. He went back to Shield cricket and got 100 last [season]. So I think he’s got plenty of runs left in him. It’ll come down to his inner drive and the way he prepares.
“It was a bit the same with Davey as well. The way he moved, we saw some positives in that. We knew that the runs were around the corner. We feel as though Usman’s got a big part to play,” he continued.
Australia tried several options in their past three series. While they started with rookie players like Nathan McSweeney and Sam Konstas, with both vacating that spot sooner, Australia tried Travis Head in Sri Lanka before handing a new role to number three Labuschagne for the WTC Final. Much to their worries, everyone failed. Commenting on the same while considering all options, McDonald said,
“I’d like to think that we’re being flexible around our options in the batting order. Other people are judging that and saying that’s unsettling. I think we’ve got a group that understands when we’re home, it looks a certain way, when we’re away, it can potentially shift.” he concluded
Meanwhile, Australia’s next Test assignment is a three-match away tour of the West Indies starting June 25 in Barbados which marks their inaugral series of a new 2025-27 WTC cycle. Runs on the slow, bounce-less tracks of the West Indies during the three-Test tour to the Caribbean shouldn’t camouflage the fact that Usman Khwaja is not going to improve with age. Mark Wood and Jofra Archer – assuming both make it Down Under for the Ashes – would love the opportunity to go full throttle at him with the new Kookaburra next summer.
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