Fresh of a stunning tour of India in which he posted 383 runs at an average of 76.60, Usman Khawaja’s role in the upcoming World Cup is still up in the air.
With the impending return of David Warner and Steve Smith to the top of the batting order, Khawaja appears to be the odd man out given Aaron Finch’s responsibility as captain.
Batting woes aside, Finch should be commended for his leadership in the three most recent series to date, culminating in the come-from-behind series win against probable World Cup favourite India.
On his day, Finch remains one of the most destructive opening batsmen around the world, highlighted by his 93 in Ranchi, as well as his 100 against England in Durham last year.
However, Khawaja has been more impressive in his return to the ODI team, utilising his improved fitness to craft long, match-winning innings.
His ability to shift gears as the game progresses and push for singles and twos in the middle overs should not be overlooked, especially when paired with a more attacking partner.
With Finch falling relatively early in three of the five games, Khawaja’s ability to rebuild the innings while maintaining an above average strike rate could be crucial to Australia’s World Cup hopes.
One solution would be to move Finch down the order, changing his role to a power hitter in the latter overs. According to HowStat, Finch has only batted down the order twice, scoring a 0 and 20, compared to his 98 innings at the top of the order.
Furthermore, the quartet of Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis/Ashton Turner and Alex Carey have performed well and shown ability to both set and chase targets.
Hence, the onus is again unfairly placed on Khawaja to move down the order and relinquish the opening role he has excelled in.
Despite a limited sample size, HowStat confirms that Khawaja has been more proficient and scored at a faster rate when opening (Avg 53/SR 88) to batting at number three (Avg 24/SR 72). More importantly, the way in which he manages the game has embodied Australia’s recent success.
With limited time to experiment, it will be interesting to see if Justin Langer alters the batting order during the upcoming series against Pakistan.
Regardless of whether Finch returns to his pre-captaincy form, Khawaja may be asked to sacrifice his opening spot take on a new role as Australia’s number three.
Considering that Smith and Warner have both been battling injury and form, Australia will ultimately need to have both Finch and Khawaja in the side to have a chance at repeating as back-to-back World Cup Winners.
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