For all his runs - 238 for once out in all over the past four days - Khawaja's conversations with the men in charge of selecting the Aussie XI for Hobart have left him resolved to missing out at the Blundstone Arena
Despite making twin tons in the fourth Ashes Test, Usman Khawaja expects to be dropped for the fifth.
The 35-year-old has made quite the impression on his return to the Australian red-ball team after a two-and-a-half-year absence, grabbing the opportunity presented to him by Travis Head's positive Covid-19 test by the lapels and dominating England's bowlers at the SCG.
But for all his runs - 238 for once out in all over the past four days - Khawaja's conversations with the men in charge of selecting the Aussie XI for Hobart have left him accepting he will miss out at the Blundstone Arena.
"At the moment I'm quite resigned to the fact that I'll probably miss out," he said.
Usman Khawaja expects to be dropped for the fifth Ashes Test (Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
"That's just from talking to [head selector] George Bailey about continuity. That's important, I'm not totally against that process.
"I felt like throughout my career, a lot of changes were made and I was on the wrong side of them so I'm the first to say that I think there needs to be structure and stability.
"I actually like the processes that the selectors have been taking throughout the series so at the moment I'm not really expecting to play the next match."
USMAN KHAWAJA: TEST CAREEROpening: 484 runs, ave 96.8, 2 100sAt No.3: 2,343 runs, ave 37.19, 6 100sAt No.5: 239 runs, ave 238, 2 100s
Khawaja's second-innings contribution - an unbeaten 101 - underpinned Australia's 265 for 6 declared, leaving England needing an unlikely 388 for victory.
"This game is not easy, you don't always get games like these, back-to-back hundreds, I wasn't supposed to be playing this game either," he said.
"Fortune had it that I was in for Heady and it's amazing how it's worked out. I couldn't have written it better myself."
While Head is widely expected to return to the team in Hobart, there is another route for Khawaja to retain his place.
Khawaja made 238 runs for once out at the SCG (David Gray/AFP via Getty Images)
At the top of the order, Marcus Harris has remained unconvincing for Australia in an otherwise dominant series and averages 25.29 from 14 Tests without a century.
While Khawaja conceded that swapping to an opening berth is not a simple switch, it ought to be under discussion when Bailey meets with fellow selectors Justin Langer and Tony Dodemaide prior to the start of the fifth Test next week.
They may bear in mind that he averages nearly 100 at the top of the order for Australia in Tests, including two tons.
"You can't really compare five to opening, I know because I've done both," Khawaja said.
"Opening is very tough. All I've done is got an opportunity with Australia, scored some runs which I'm grateful for, the hunger is still there and hopefully, not that I have to, I've shown I can still score runs at this level if an opportunity presents itself in the future."
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