The Ashes 2025-26: Travis Head or Usman Khawaja? David Warner picks Australian opener for Adelaide test

David Warner feels that Australia lacked aggressive batter down the order but Travis Head has filled that role perfectly.

Former Australian cricketer David Warner has backed his best mate Usman Khawaja to take back the opening spot from Travis Head in the upcoming game of Ashes 2025-26. He feels that Head going back to the middle order will make things worse for England. 

The Australian opening combination for the third game of Ashes 2025-26 has been the hot topic. Usman Khawaja, who is the designated opener in the side suffered a back injury in the opening game in Perth and couldn’t open in that game followed by missing the next match.

 In his absence, Travis Head was asked to open the innings and he played a blinder in the first match, hitting one of the fastest tons for Australia to help them chase the target of 205 with chase. He was decent in the second match too, playing a decent role.

But with Usman Khawaja being declared fit for the next match, the question now remains if Travis Head will open the innings or not, especially with Australia head coach Andrew McDonald openly saying that Usman Khawaja is flexible enough to bat in the middle-order. 

I think Uzzy (Usman Khawaja) comes back in, slides to the top – David Warner

David Warner, however, feels that Usman Khawaja will walk straight into the XI as an opener. Sharing his take on the entire saga, he said: 

“I think Uzzy (Usman Khawaja) comes back in, slides to the top, and Trav (Travis Head) goes down. That’s probably a worse result for England, Travis Head going back down the order,” Warner told reporters, as quoted as saying by ICC.

“At the end of the day, Travis put his hand up to bat in the situation he was in. He came out and batted in the way Travis Head does. You see plenty of interviews from Trav saying that is Uzzy’s spot, and if when the time comes, they ask him to go up the order, he wouldn’t mind doing that.”

David Warner also added that Australia lacked an aggressive batter down the order earlier but now Travis Head has filled that role perfectly. Elaborating on how batting Usman Khawaja in the middle-order might not work. He said:

“We didn’t have that aggressor down in the middle order [in previous years]. Australia has that now as well, and moving forward with whatever Uzzy decides to do, if he hangs them up, they can look that way. 

“But then it’s on all of us to understand that potentially might not work and Travis will have to go back down the order. And then they are going to have to look for another replacement. The selectors have a headache.”

Australia are 2-0 ahead in the Ashes 2025-26 and now would want to seal the series in the third match. The game will be played at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide from 17 December onwards. 

For more updates, follow Khel Now Cricket on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram.