WTC Final: Usman Khawaja addresses retirement plans; clears air around Australia’s opening conundrum | Cricket News
Australian opener Usman Khawaja, 38, discussed his retirement plans ahead of the World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord’s on Wednesday. The veteran batsman, who has scored the most runs (1,422) for Australia in the ongoing WTC cycle, has taken on increased responsibility at the top of the order following David Warner’s retirement in January last year. His consistent performance has been crucial for the Australian team during this period.Khawaja emphasized that he will retire gracefully when the time comes while maintaining that age is irrelevant as long as he continues to perform and enjoy the game.“To me, age is irrelevant. If I’m still enjoying my game, still training really hard, I’m still scoring runs, still contributing to the team where I can, I’ve still got the hunger. I don’t really think of anything as different, but I’m very open,” Khawaja told ICC Digital at Lord’s.“I’m really just enjoying my cricket at the moment. Everything that has a beginning has an end. I don’t know when that end will be, but for me it’s all about staying in the moment, enjoying it one Test match at a time, one series at a time. And when it’s time to hang up the boots, I’ll gracefully do that, whatever it be,” he added.
Australia has experimented with various opening partners for Khawaja since Warner’s departure, including Steve Smith, Nathan McSweeney, Travis Head, and Sam Konstas. There are speculations that Marnus Labuschagne might be promoted from his number three position to open alongside Khawaja in the final.Konstas, who performed impressively against India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, is also training with the squad in London and remains a potential candidate for the opening position.
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Khawaja remains focused on his own game despite the uncertainty surrounding his opening partner. When asked if the lack of clarity affects his mindset, he responded: “Not really, to be honest. Opening is so tough. I’m worried about how the ball is going to bowl to me and what I need to do. The opposite, whoever’s opening with me is thinking exactly the same. Then we’re kind of in the middle working together on how we’re going to blunt out this attack.““It doesn’t really change my game too much. If anything, the change was probably a little bit quieter without Davey. But for me, it’s just about what I need to do for my team and then where I need to work with my partner while I’m out there,” he concluded.
