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New Delhi: Australia announced a 15-member squad for the fifth and final Ashes Test against England starting on Sunday, January 4. Putting ongoing Test retirement speculations to rest, Cricket Australia named 39-year-old veteran batter Usman Khawaja in the squad for the Test match to be held at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
In the ongoing Ashes series, Khawaja started as opener for the side and during the second innings of the Perth Test, the batter did not come out to bat as he suffered back spasms. He also went on to miss the Brisbane Test and was initially left out for Adelaide as well, only being recalled to bat at the number four positions due to Steve Smith's illness, who was ruled out of the match.
In the five-match series, he has scored a total of 153 runs in five innings including just a half-century, with the southpaw scoring 29 off 52 balls in the last game which was won by England. Meanwhile in absence of regular skipper Pat Cummins, veteran player Steven Smith will continue to lead the Aussie side.
Cummins missed the first two Test matches after failing to recover from a back injury and is also set to miss the last one as well, after being absent from the fourth Test also. The regular captain only played in the third Test match claiming six wickets. Keeping in mind the T20 World Cup next month, Cricket Australia decided to manage his workload for the marquee event.
After losing the Boxing Day Test, the hosts would aim to pocket the final Test match so as to win the series 4-1. On the other hand, England would be looking for another win to end the series on a positive note.
Steve Smith (captain), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster.
