When Warner departs, Khawaja is undecided about who should open with him, but believes it should be one of the specialist contenders Renshaw, Harris, or Bancroft.
Usman Khawaja believes there is no need to shift Marnus Labuschagne or anyone else up to open once David Warner concludes his Test career, stating that given the difficulties of the task, a specialist should perform the job.
Khawaja was asked about the possibility of Labuschagne being moved up to open the batting when Warner’s Test career expires later this summer, most likely following the third Test against Pakistan in Sydney in the new year. Australia coach Andrew McDonald suggested the idea last week as a method to bring back allrounder Cameron Green to play alongside incumbent allrounder Mitchell Marsh.
Khawaja was emphatic that Labuschagne should stay at No.3 because to his success in that position, and he was hesitant of tinkering with the order too much considering the challenge of starting the batting.
“Have you asked Marnus about it?” “I think he’d say ‘hell no’ emphatically,” Khawaja added. “Marnus is suffering from opening-itis. I believe Davey Warner injured his arm and sent Alex Carey out to open. That seems like a long shot to me.
“It’s not easy to open. It’s difficult labor. I know this because I’ve batted at Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 for Australia. I’m telling you, opening is by far the most difficult, and it’s quite difficult to bring someone who hasn’t opened.
“I’m confident that if you put Marnus up there at opening, he’d do very well.” But would he perform as well as he does at No. 3? I’m not certain.
“I wouldn’t take the risk with him averaging 55 [56.81] at three and Steve Smith averaging 60 [58.61] overall.” You wouldn’t want to play with it too much.
“Opening can be a very, very tough thing to do mentally more than physically so I’m always a bit shy of not letting people who haven’t opened much in the past open the batting.”
He also dismissed the idea of Travis Head permanently going up to open after serving as a temporary opener in the Test series in India earlier this year while Warner was injured.
“He’s done so well at No.5,” Khawaja remarked. “It’s pointless to move people around. We have a plethora of openers to choose from. I don’t see the value in rearranging players just for the sake of it. People are talking about it because of Mitch Marsh and Cameron Green, I believe. But I believe they’re both vying for the same position. Decide who is the best player for that game at that time, and then worry about the rest of the team.”
Khawaja’s claim contradicts his transformation from a No.3 to an opener at the Test level. Khawaja did not open the batting in his first 31 Test innings, which spanned five years, before scoring a century in his first innings opening in Test cricket in 2016, when David Warner was unable to open due to being off the field for too long in a day-night Test against South Africa.
Prior to that century, Khawaja had opened 15 times in first-class cricket but had not reached 50 in any innings. He has now gone on to become one of the most successful Test openers in history. He gained more first-class experience by opening for Australia A on a tour of India in 2018, which led to success as a Test opener in the UAE in 2018, before taking Marcus Harris’ spot at the end of the 2021-22 Ashes series after batting at No.5 in the Sydney Test.
Khawaja and Herbert Sutcliffe are the only players to average more than 60 at the top of the order among the 202 players who have opened more than 25 times in Test cricket.
Another irony is that Khawaja presently bats at No.4 for his state team Queensland in the Sheffield Shield, allowing Matt Renshaw, one of the openers fighting for the soon-to-be vacant Test berth, to open the batting. Instead, former Test openers Joe Burns and Bryce Street have opened with Renshaw, with Khawaja batting at No.4.
Despite the fact that he is not a specialist, Khawaja believes that one of the three specialist openers in contention to open in the Test team, Renshaw, Harris, and Cameron Bancroft, should be chosen when Warner retires.
He stated that he had an opinion on which of the three players is the best, but he would not share it, and he has not been asked to recommend a prospective partner to the Australian selection.
“Even if they asked, it wouldn’t matter. “I’d tell them to choose whoever they believe is the best,” Khawaja remarked.
“To be honest, I’m not willing to talk about it. So many factors, in my opinion. I’m not privy to all of these players and their batting. To be honest, even if I thought one was better than the other, the difference is so minor that it probably doesn’t matter. I believe all three of the batters in contention deserve to bat first. It’s simple for me to sit back and say, “Pick whoever you want.”
