'He's got opening-itis' - Khawaja warns against Labuschagne promotion

Opener Usman Khawaja believes there's no need to move Marnus Labuschagne or anyone else up to open after David Warner finishes his Test career saying a specialist should do the job given the difficulty of the role.

Khawaja was asked about the concept of Labuschagne being shifted up to open the batting when Warner vacates the role later this summer when his Test career ends, which is likely to be after the third Test against Pakistan in Sydney in the new year. The idea was floated by Australia coach Andrew McDonald last week as a way of getting allrounder Cameron Green back into the side to play alongside incumbent allrounder Mitchell Marsh.

Khawaja was adamant that Labuschagne should remain at No.3 given his success in that role and said he was wary of messing around with the order too much given the difficulty of opening the batting.

"Have you asked Marnus this? I think he would give you a really clear, 'hell no'," Khawaja said. "Marnus has got opening-itis. I am pretty sure Davey Warner hurt his arm and sent Alex Carey out to open. I think that is a long shot.

"Opening is not easy. It's tough work. I can tell you that because I've batted at [No.]1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 for Australia. I'm telling you by far opening is the hardest and it's very hard to bring someone who hasn't opened.

"I'm positive if you put Marnus up there at opening he would do very well. But would he do as well opening as he does at No.3? I'm not sure.

"I wouldn't want to take the risk [given he's] averaging 55 [56.81] at three and Steve Smith averages 60 [58.61] in general. So you wouldn't want to mess around with it too much.

"Opening can be a very, very tough thing to do mentally more than physically so I'm always a bit shy of not letting people who haven't opened much in the past open the batting."

He also shot down the notion of Travis Head moving permanently up to open after he was used as a makeshift opener in the Test series in India earlier this year when Warner was injured.

"He's done so well at No.5," Khawaja said. "There's no point in shifting around people. We have so many openers to pick from. I don't see any point shifting around players for the sake of it. I think people are talking about that because of Mitch Marsh and Cameron Green. But I think they're both going for the same spot. So decide who the better player is for that game at that time and then you worry about the rest of the team."

Khawaja's argument runs counter to his transition from being a No.3 at Test level to becoming an opener. Khawaja did not open the batting in his first 31 Test innings over five years at the start of his career before making a century in his first innings opening in Test cricket, which came about because David Warner was unable to open due to being off the field for too long in a day-night Test against South Africa in 2016.

Khawaja had opened 15 times in first-class cricket prior to that century but had not reached 50 in any innings. Since then he has gone on to become one of the most successful openers in Test match history. He got further exposure at first-class level, opening for Australia A on a tour of India in 2018 which led to success as a Test opener in the UAE in 2018 before he later took Marcus Harris' spot at the end of the 2021-22 Ashes series following twin centuries in the Sydney Test batting at No.5.

Of the 202 players who have opened more than 25 times in Test cricket, Khawaja and Herbert Sutcliffe are the only players to average more than 60 at the top of the order.

A further irony is that Khawaja does not currently open for his state side Queensland in the Sheffield Shield, instead batting at No.4 to allow Matt Renshaw, one of the openers vying for the soon-to-be vacant Test spot, to open the batting. Former Test opener Joe Burns and Bryce Street have instead opened alongside Renshaw while Khawaja has batted at No.4.

But despite not being a specialist himself, Khawaja believes that one of the three specialist openers who are in the frame to open in the Test team, Renshaw, Harris and Cameron Bancroft, should be chosen when Warner finishes.

He said he does have an opinion on which player is the best of the three but he would not divulge it and he has not been asked to provide a preferred future partner to the Australian selectors.

"It wouldn't matter anyway even if they asked me. I'd tell them to pick whoever you think is the best," Khawaja said.

"I'm not willing to talk about it, to be honest. I think so many things go into it. I'm not privy to watching all these guys and all their batting. To be honest, even if I did think one was better than the other it's so minuscule that it probably doesn't matter. I think all three of the guys that are in contention to open the batting deserve it. For me, it's quite easy to just sit back and say pick whoever you want."