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Explained: Why Usman Khawaja didn't open for Australia in 1st Ashes Test

Abhinav Tyagi

Usman Khawaja for Australia - (Source: AFP)Usman Khawaja for Australia - (Source: AFP)

On Friday, November 21, the first Ashes Test got underway at the Perth Stadium. It was a dream start for the hosts as they reduced the Three Lions to just 172 runs in the first innings. Mitchell Starc was the star with the ball and took a seven-wicket haul to put extreme pressure on the visitors.

Meanwhile, bizarre scenes followed after the first innings interval as debutant Jake Weatherald opened the innings alongside Marnus Labuschagne. Notably, Usman Khawaja was absent, and the fans were concerned about the southpaw's whereabouts.

Why didn't Usman Khawaja walk to open the innings for Australia?

Khawaja, who is a regular opener for the Kangaroos, didn't walk to bat, and immediately the internet went into a frenzy. However, in the latest events, the reason behind Khawaja's absence has been explained.

Notably, for the unversed, Usman was out of the field for a long time during the first innings, and now has to adhere to ICC rules, which say that a player needs to wait for the same amount of time in the field as he was outside to actually be eligible to bowl or bat.

Thus, when Australia came to bat, Khawaja wasn't eligible according to ICC rules to open the innings as he spent too much time outside the field. Further, he now awaits his time limit to get to bat in Australia's batting. 

Notably, a report mentioned that the reason behind Khawaja walking off the field is termed as 'Toilet break and stretching.' Talking about the ongoing match, at the time of writing this article, Australia are already hurt as the hosts are 0/1 and the debutant returned without scoring in his debut. 

ICC rules explained in Khawaja's case

  • ICC rule: 24.2.3: If a player is absent from the field for longer than 8 minutes, the following restrictions shall apply to their future participation in the match:
  • 24.2.3.2: The player shall not be permitted to bat in the match until his team’s batting innings has been in progress for the length of playing time that is equal to the unexpired Penalty time carried forward from the previous innings. However, once his side has lost five wickets in its batting innings, he may bat immediately. If any unexpired penalty time remains at the end of that batting innings, it is carried forward to the next and subsequent innings of the match.