If David Warner can’t play, Usman Khawaja can open the batting in second Ashes Test: Ricky Ponting

The all-time favourite contest between Australia and England is up and the opening Ashes game saw hosts taking the dominating position. In the due course, David Warner who smashed a brilliant 94 in Australia’s first innings got injured and put Australia in the spot of bother. Warner received a blow on his chest while Mark Wood was up in his action and the batter couldn’t take the field on day three of the game.

In the same line of events, former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting stated that if Warner is unable to play the second Test, Usman Khawaja can replace him. Ponting’s only concern was that Khawaja has done the role for Australia in past but hasn’t played the same role of late.

“If Warner can’t play, I think it’s probably Khawaja that goes in and open the batting. Although he hasn’t done it the last couple of years for Queensland, he’s done it for Australia before. He’s obviously in really good form, so I think that’s probably the way to go. I think he is experienced enough but the fact he hasn’t done it for a while would be a concern,” said Ponting as quoted by cricket.com.au.

It’s a worry that David Warner is not out there at all: Ponting

Warner’s ordeals further went up when he received a blow at the same place while fielding. Ponting stated that it is yet not clear if Warner will get a nod for the second Test but it is sure that he is in discomfort and that he came in one of the breaks with a chest guard.

“It’s a worry that he’s not out there at all. We’ll have a better idea when he bats or if he bats at all in the second innings. I noticed that after he got hit, he came out after one of the breaks and you could see that he had a little (chest) guard over that area. I got a bit worried about it then because I’ve never seen him with a chest guard on before.”

“Even if it’s just bruising, I would think that he’d be out there fielding, so there might be a bit more to it than what we’re hearing,” Ponting added.