Khawaja not a certainty for fifth Ashes Test: Australia selector Dodemaide

Khawaja, who came in as a replacement for Head in the fourth Test at Sydney, has mounted a compelling case to retain his spot after scoring 137 and an unbeaten 101 in the drawn game

Australian selector Tony Dodemaide has said he will take a call on whether in-form batsman Usman Khawaja will play in the fifth and final Ashes Test or not only after seeing how “people pull up physically and medically” in the wake of the COVID-19 surge in the country.

The Australian cricket team too have been impacted by the virus with star batsman Travis Head testing positive for COVID-19 following the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne and captain Pat Cummins missing the second Test at Adelaide after coming in contact with a COVID-positive person.

Khawaja, who came in as a replacement for Head in the fourth Test at Sydney, has mounted a compelling case to retain his spot after scoring 137 and an unbeaten 101 in the drawn game. 

“That’s certainly the most challenging conversation to have [on Khawaja],” Dodemaide told SEN Mornings on Tuesday. “I think we’ve got to just let things settle for a day or two…there’s a few things to take into account before we finalise the selections. We also need to see exactly how people pull up physically and medically…remember the past two games, we’ve had to make forced changes based on COVID. We’re not making too many assumptions as yet,” he added.

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