Huge Setback for Australia as Key Opener Ruled Out of 2nd Test
Australia has been handed a major setback ahead of the 2nd Test against England. The team is already without two main pacers, as Hazlewood and Cummins miss out this game. Now, Usman Khawaja has also added his name to this list, missing out due to an injury.
Australia has been handed a major setback ahead of the 2nd Test against England. The team is already without two main pacers, as Hazlewood and Cummins miss out this game. Now, Usman Khawaja has also added his name to this list, missing out due to an injury.
The injury woes continue for the Australian team in The Ashes, as they prepare for the second Test. They were able to secure a win in the first game despite having two of their main bowlers injured. And the team was supposed to enter the next game with the same line-up only, as Hazlewood and Cummins in the series.
But now the team has suffered yet another injury blow, and this time it is an opening batsman. Usman Khawaja has been ruled out of the second match against England, due to back injury. He was not present on the field for the majority of the first Test, and even batted down the order in Australia's first innings.
1. Australia's Squad
Australia has decided to continue with the same team as they had for the first Test. But they were unfortunate to make some changes towards the end moment, as Usman Khawaja has been ruled out due to an injury. Khawaja suffered this injury in the first Test, which was almost two weeks ago, as he won't be present for the second game too.
Australia Squad for 2nd Test:
- Steve Smith (c)
- Scott Boland
- Alex Carey
- Brendan Doggett
- Cameron Green
- Travis Head
- Josh Inglis
- Marnus Labuschagne
- Nathan Lyon
- Michael Neser
- Mitchell Starc
- Jake Weatherald
- Beau Webster
In his place, Australia has added Josh Inglis and Beau Webster in contention to make it to the playing XI. It will be intense to see which one of these players will be able to make their spot in the team for the second match against England. And with Cummins being ruled out, Steve Smith will be leading Australia, under whom the team has been undefeated against England in Tests.
2. Boland on Squad Changes
The Australian bowler, Scott Boland has talked about the recent changes which have been made to the team. He informed the fans about Usman Khawaja’s injury and how he was struggling with the bat due to back spasms. And now, it is also unclear for how many games he will be ruled out of the team
, “It's hard, because he's put in a lot of work since the last game just trying to get his body right but he hasn't come up unfortunately. I thought he looked pretty good in the nets, but he must have thought in himself that he wasn't ready to go. I think the best thing about our team over the last few years is when someone has come out, either due to form or an injury, someone's always stood up and done their job.”
In the place of Usman Khawaja, Australia will have to place a new opener with Marnus Labuschagne. The team placed Travis Head to open with Labuschagne during the chase, which turned out to be a great move by the team. Head scored a century in just 69 balls, which further helped Australia to start off The Ashes with an impressive win.
3. Khawaja's Comments on Pitch
It should be noted that Usman Khawaja also made some comments on the Perth pitch a few days ago. This came at a time when Australia was having its practice sessions for the pink ball Test. With Khawaja missing out on the majority of the first Test, he did play a part in it and got dismissed in the first innings.
He reacted to the pitch conditions at Perth and was dissatisfied with the same. Khawaja said that the Day one pitch at Perth was a piece of s***. He continued by saying that the pitch was bad last year and it was also bad this year, emphasising on the fact that in this pitch.
Further, Cricket Australia had said that they would be doing an assessment on the statement which has been made by Usman Khawaja. The ICC also stated that the Perth pitch was very good, which totally contradicts what Usman Khawaja had said for the pitch conditions.
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