Ponting sees room for Khawaja in World Cup XI

NEW DELHI: Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has said that batsman Usman Khawaja can find a place in the team’s World Cup side after performing brilliantly in the 3-2 ODI series win against India.

Ponting said that he wants Khawaja to play in the side, adding that if required, he could even drop down to No. 3 to accommodate the returning David Warner at his favoured position at the top of the order.

“I think we all saw, over the last few weeks, just how skillful a player Usman Khawaja is and can be, and I think when you see him play like that, it just makes you wonder why he doesn’t do it a bit more regularly. I think that’s the disappointing thing as far as he is concerned,” Ponting said at a Delhi Capitals function ahead of the IPL of the man who topped the run-getters’ chart for the five-match series with 383 runs, including two centuries and two half-centuries.

“I would be surprised if Khawaja wasn’t in the squad. Warner and he can be in the same squad; they might not necessarily play in the same XI. Or who knows, they could, you know: Khawaja could probably slot down at three when Warner comes in, and Steven Smith might bat at four or five or something, just to shore up those middle overs.”

It’s a toughie for the selectors, Ponting, who will join the Australian team as its assistant coach after the IPL, conceded, with the team having tried out many players in the almost-year since Smith and Warner were banned for their roles in the ball-tampering scandal in the Newlands Test against South Africa.

“It’s going to be a tough job for the Australian selectors. The fact that they have played so many players over the past 12 months and given opportunities to so many players, it’s probably created a situation now that they have 20 players they’d want to have in their World Cup squad. But they have to cut that back down to 15. It’s a good position for the Australian team to be in. Thankfully I’m not a selector, because that’s going to be a tough job,” he said.