EXCLUSIVE: Mark Taylor casts selection doubt over Usman Khawaja as veteran opener eyes Ashes
Mark Taylor doubts the struggling Usman Khawaja can return to his prolific best at the age of 38 and says he wouldn't have either of Australia's Test openers "penned in" for next summer's Ashes at this stage.
Khawaja and 19-year-old rookie Sam Konstas, Australia's incumbent Test openers, are expected to be named this week in a squad for a two-match series against Sri Lanka in Galle, starting on January 29.
The Australians will aim to retain the Warne-Muralitharan Trophy with what's expected to be a vastly different XI to the one fielded for the Border-Gavaskar finale, before attention turns to a World Test Championship defence against South Africa at Lord's in June.
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Next will come a three-Test tour of the West Indies scheduled for June and July.
Taylor challenged Khawaja to make runs of substance on the path to the Ashes, which the veteran indicated he was targeting in an interview with Wide World of Sports in November.
"I don't think anyone gets back to their best at the age of 38, but can he provide the platform at the top of the order? He can, because he'll be desperate to try to get to Sydney [the venue for the final Ashes Test]," Taylor told Wide World of Sports.
Usman Khawaja watches on from the dugout during the 2024-25 Melbourne Test. Getty
"But I've always thought that no matter who you are it comes down to runs and performance.
"So I'd certainly like to see him find some form or continue the form that he showed on the last day of Sydney [in his innings of 41 against India] between now and, say, the West Indies tour."
Khawaja enjoyed a phenomenal career revival after earning a recall for the Sydney Test of 2022, in which he scored hundreds in both innings.
Since ending a two-year Test drought he's compiled 2748 runs at 48.21, including seven centuries, and a fruitful 2023 secured him the Shane Warne Men's Test Player of the Year award.
But the left-hander, who will turn 39 during the third Test of the Ashes, has only made 631 Test runs at 28.68 since the completion of the 2023 Ashes tour of England.
He also only tallied 184 runs at 20.44 in Australia's 3-1 series win against India and has not scored a century in his last 33 Test innings.
"If [Usman] Khawaja and Konstas are going to be the opening combination for the Ashes and the World Test Championship [final], they've really got to bat together in Sri Lanka," Taylor told Wide World of Sports.
"... If they can forge a combination, well then Usman probably gets his wish and will get to Sydney next year."
Khawaja has appeared more comfortable in the middle since linking up with Konstas, whose aggressive style of batting seems to have relieved pressure for the patient Khawaja in much the same way David Warner used to do.
"The only problem is if Usman doesn't make runs in Sri Lanka and the World Test Championship final, Australia have got a decision to make before the Ashes start next year," Taylor added.
"If I was selecting I would have no one at this stage penned in, but I would certainly have Khawaja and Konstas as my openers for the next three Tests and see what that brings."
