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The Australian opening batter Usman Khawaja has been cleared to play the second and final Test of the series against West Indies at the Gabba in Brisbane after suffering a head blow in the previous match. The 37-year-old passed all the concussion assessments in the last couple of days, which would mean that he will continue opening alongside Steve Smith.
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Usman Khawaja was hit on the side of the helmet by the West Indies debutant Shamar Joseph’s short delivery with Australia needing only one run to win. It led to him spitting blood and feeling discomfort around his upper jaw and cheekbone area before leaving the Adelaide Oval with the Australian medical staff.
Shortly after Usman Khawaja was retired hurt, he passed the initial concussion assessment in the team’s dressing room. Since then, the left-handed opening batter didn’t show any symptoms over the weekend before he was cleared to play following a final concussion assessment on Monday, January 22.
On Tuesday, January 23, Usman Khawaja will return to training for Australia at the Gabba to get his preparations done before the Test match. As per the statement from Cricket Australia, “Usman Khawaja has been cleared to play the second test match against the West Indies in Brisbane. Khawaja was assessed again today and has no symptoms of delayed concussion. He will train at the Gabba tomorrow.”
Notably, Australia won the first Test of the two-match series against West Indies by 10 wickets inside three days at the Adelaide Oval. Travis Head was declared the player of the match for his scintillating hundred, while Josh Hazlewood was the star performer with the ball, picking up nine wickets across both the innings.
