ICC World Cup 2019: 5 Australian players who have practically sealed their spot in the squad

#4 Usman Khawaja

Usman Khawaja

Usman Khawaja not being picked for the World Cup squad would be hugely surprising. There is a small possibility of that with Warner's return, but most would agree that dropping Khawaja wouldn't be a prudent decision.

Khawaja proved himself in the recent Asian tours as a reliable batsman. The southpaw showed his class against India by top-scoring for the Aussie side. He notched up 383 runs in 5 ODI matches with an average of 76.60 and two centuries.

It should be noted that Khawaja scored more runs than the Indian captain Virat Kohli in the ODI series.

In the Pakistan series that followed, Khawaja scored 272 runs in 5 matches. He scored three half-centuries in the series. In the final ODI of the series, Khawaja missed a century by just two runs.

The Australian batsman may find himself as a backup option in the presence of another left-handed opening batsman, Warner. However, it would only be fair for him to play as a regular opener, with either Finch or Warner batting down the order.