Usman Khawaja, who opens the second Ashes Test at the Gabba on December 4, will not be playing for Australia. Khawaja’s back injury sustained during the series opener in Perth has ruled him out. Australia has not announced a replacement for the opening batsman, therefore Josh Ingis and Beau Webster are expected to return to the starting lineup.
During his brief nets practice on Tuesday, Khawaja appeared uncomfortable, which suggested that he was still not completely recovered.
Who will open in his place is still up in the air; Travis Head opened in the second innings of the Perth Test, while Marnus Labuschagne did so in the first.
Head has stated he would be delighted to start the batting after his heroics in the Perth fourth-innings chase. Ingis is another option if he is selected; he scored a scorching century against the England Lions last week. Inglis’ arrival would enable Australia to keep Head in the middle order. Head will probably go up the order if they choose Webster instead. In the home series against India last year, Webster made his debut for Australia, playing at number six.
With Will Jacks in, Mark Wood out
In the meantime, spin-bowling all-rounder Will Jacks has replaced Mark Wood, who is injured, in England’s XI. Jacks, who bowled extensively during the pre-second Test training session, enters ahead of Shoaib Bashir, the front-line spinner.
In 2022, Jacks made his Test debut in Rawalpindi against Pakistan, scoring a six-fer in the opening innings. After then, he only played one more Test match, in the same series, in Multan.
England XI:
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Will Jacks, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer.
India
