Pat Cummins provides official update on Usman Khawaja after opener gets injured in Perth Test
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The Australian skipper Pat Cummins has confirmed that Usman Khawaja is unlikely to take the field for Australia after a serious injury to his back. He has further claimed Usman Khawaja's utility in the Australian middle order.
The Ashes began yesterday, and no one would have imagined it to have ended by the final session on Day 2, but all thanks to the bowlers from both teams and Travis Head, it ended so early.
Mitchell Starc in the first innings was bang on, as he picked 7 wickets in front of the English batting order, and then Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes counterattacked on the Australian batters. But all this did not land very well when Travis Head single-handedly took the game away from the hands of the English.
Usman Khawaja injured during the Perth Test, Pat Cummins drops update
Usman Khawaja was reportedly injured, as a result of which he did not open the innings for Australia during the first innings. Australian batters crumbled and were all out for just 132 runs in that inning, with a 40-run lead for England.
During fielding in the second innings, Usman Khawaja tried to jump above his head, and in that attempt, he hurt his back again with the same stress injury that had hurt him earlier. This was officially confirmed by skipper Pat Cummins.
“Unfortunately, Uzzie (Khawaja) is not moving too well. His back flared up again in the slips, going for a jump above his head, so he was unable to open," said Pat Cummins on Fox Cricket.
"Hopefully Uzzie can still play a role in the middle order at some point."
Hopefully for the Aussies, Khawaja has not had that bad a back and is likely to return for the next Test as well, because Pat Cummins had claimed that he can play a role in the middle order, despite not being able to open the innings.
Should CA selectors consider snubbing him from the Australian team?
The Cricket Australia selectors were anyway blamed for having picked a team that did not contain a single player less than 30-year-old except for Cameron Green.
One of the biggest highlights of this disappointment was the selection of 39-year-old Usman Khawaja. Unlike Cricket Australia selectors and Chief Selector George Bailey, cricket analysts did not believe that Khawaja had any further cricket left in him, and that was not due solely to an increasing age but also to a lack of runs in recent years.
Australia get a huge boost with Perth's advantage ahead of the Brisbane clash
With several burdens on their heads already, the Aussies needed something to rejoice their way through to the city of Brisbane. The Gabba Test will be the second Test of the series, and despite a huge gap between the games, Australia can never be relaxed.
This is because the Aussies will continue to miss their premium fast bowler, Josh Hazlewood, and are likely to miss their skipper as well, who has not yet confirmed a date for his recovery or return.
Yet, going into the game, they will proceed with a 1-0 advantage in the series. In one of the shortest matches in the history of Ashes cricket, Australia defeated England within Day 2 of the First Test at the Optus Stadium in Perth.
"The bat and the helmet are raised to this magnificent crowd, because they have witnessed one of the all-time great performances in Test cricket history," said Ricky Ponting on Travis Head after his magnificent hundred.
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Australia National Cricket Team England National Cricket Team Australia vs England England vs Australia The Ashes Pat Cummins Usman Khawaja
