Khawaja Ruled Out Of The World Cup 2019: After a defeat against South Africa in the last league match, Australia got another setback as their top-order batsman Usman Khawaja has been ruled out of the remainder of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.
Khawaja suffered from a hamstring injury against South Africa. He retired hurt when Australia were chasing a total of 326 to finish top of the league stage. He came back after Carey’s wicket and played with the injury but got out early and there was an evident issue with him. Australia lost the game by 10 runs.
Australian Coach Justin Langer has officially confirmed about Khawaja’s injury and his availability. Management don’t want to take any risk which might excavate the injury. Ashes series is also round the corner and Khawaja is one of the mainstays of Australia’s test batting unit.
“Ussie’s got a hamstring strain so he’ll be out for probably three to four weeks which is a real shame but we have to work hard on getting him up for the Ashes now. Such a pity for him, he’s been so integral to how we’ve been playing. Like Shaun, I feel sad for him that he’s going to miss the World Cup semi-final,” said Coach Justin Langer.
Not just Khawaja, but even Stoinis is suffering from an injury and the team management is now hoping he recovers for the all-important clash against England.
Australia called Matthew Wade as the cover for Khawaja and he will join the team after ICC’s Event Technical Committee’s official approval. Wade is the wicket-keeper batsman and was the part of the A tour earlier.
For Stoinis, Australia has called up Mitchell Marsh as cover. The final decision on the all-rounder will be taken in the next 24-48 hours. Stoinis had a side strain earlier in the tournament as well, where he missed the game against Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Peter Handscomb has already joined the team after Shaun Marsh fractured his wrist, facing Pat Cummins, in a net session.
Injury has been a big concern for every team in this world cup and a lot of teams have come forward to criticise the practice wickets.
Australia will take on England in the second semi-final on July 11th in Birmingham.
