Usman Khawaja’s final verdict on retirement will be delivered…..

The retirement of Australian star batsman Usman Khawaja has been in play throughout this Ashes series. Finally, a press conference is planned at the SCG on Friday morning, a day before the start of the fifth match at the SCG, to address speculation surrounding his retirement.

Coming into the Ashes, Cricket Australia went through turbulent circumstances. Several crucial players on their team, like Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, have already missed the series due to injuries. Even the best hitters, Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith, could not produce a significant impact with the bat.

In a major development, Usman Khawaja, the veteran Australian opener, is set to end his ten-year career with the Australians. Speculations have been rife on social media and to reach a conclusion, Khawaja will speak to the press.

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Press meet at SCG planned to address Usman Khawaja retirement speculation

Khawaja, who is 39, will feature in the fifth Ashes Test at the SCG as it was reported that he was placed in the final squad for the final Test in Sydney. However, his future with the Australian team is heavily in doubt.

A press conference will be held at the SCG at 8.15am, and while Cricket Australia has not revealed who will speak, it has been confirmed that Khawaja will face the media. It has been a roller coaster season for Khawaja in Ashes so far. He batted in the first innings of the Perth Test and then missed the second Test in Brisbane.

After missing the Adelaide XI, he returned to play in the third Test as a replacement for Steve Smith and played the best innings of the series to keep his career intact. In his last four innings, Khawaja has 80, 40, 29 and a duck.

SCG curator under scrutiny after MCG mistake

After the winning Ashes team lost the fourth Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the ICC also claimed that the pitch was unsatisfactory, as a total of 36 wickets fell in two days, which was devastating in the history of the Ashes.

Consequently, immense pressure was put on SCG curator Adam Lewis after he admitted the fact that the day after the match his team had made a mistake in their pitch preparation. Although it wasn’t possible to take too many readings on the SCG track, early signs show good lateral movement for the seamers.

However, Sydney did not experience the best weather conditions, with rain interrupting the last 6 of the 11 Tests scheduled to take place there.

Usman Khawaja’s Test career for Australia

Usman Khawaja made his Test debut for Australia against England at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 2011. The ground where he made his debut could also be the ground of his last international match.

In these 15 years, Usman Khawaja has seen ups and downs in his career and has played 87 matches for Australia. In 157 innings, the batter compiled 6206 runs at an average of 43.39. With 16 centuries and 28 half-centuries to his name, Usman Khawaja is a decorated hero in the longest format of the game.

His unique Test records include scoring hundreds in every innings of a match, batting every day of a 5-day match and being the 50th fastest to 6,000 runs in Test cricket. In a significant career, the 39-year-old has also amassed 1554 runs in ODIs with an average of 42 and 2 centuries to his name.

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