Australian opener Usman Khawaja reckons great mate Steve Smith wants to bat No.4 for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy series – and has declared it the place in Australia’s batting order that will see ‘Smudge’, and the home side, have the best chance of beating heavyweights India.
Speaking with Fox Sports Australia this week, Khawaja also backed Travis Head to partner him atop the order when the blockbuster five-Test series which gets underway in November.
After last winning the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2015, Australia have dropped four straight series since – including two on home soil in 2018/19 and 2020/21.
As the countdown to this summer’s series begins, much debate has centred around whether Smith stays at the top of the order, where he has been since Dave Warner retired in January, or moves back to the middle order.
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When explaining why he would reshuffle Australia’s batting line-up, Khawaja recounted a moment from the 1937 Ashes series – when Sir Donald Bradman famously flipped the batting order on a green top, put himself number seven, and then went and blasted 270.
The opener’s support of Head also came only hours after the swashbuckling leftie went absolutely berko himself on the way to Australia securing a 28-run victory in the opening T20 against England.
Apart from blasting 59 runs from just 23 balls in Southampton, Head also smashed a record-equalling 30 runs in one over.
Squaring off against England’s Sam Curran, the South Australian hit three fours and as many sixes to equal the most runs ever by an Aussie batter in a T20I over – joining Ricky Ponting (2005), Dan Christian (2021), and Mitchell Marsh (2024).
The hulking effort was a timely one given the headlines surrounding exactly who should partner Khawaja atop an Australian batting order looking to avenge what has been consecutive Test series losses to India on home soil.
Following the retirement of Warner in January, 35-year-old Smith was pushed up alongside his great mate, yet averaged only 28.50 in four Tests against the Wests Indies and New Zealand.
While Smith has recently suggested he is “not fussed either way” regarding where he bats against the Indians, Khawaja insists ‘Smudge’ would prefer a return to number four this summer.
“He’ll just probably never say it,” the opener laughed this week.
“So I’ll say it for him.
“Opening is a very important spot … (but) I still think we have the best Test player of my era in the side, in Steve Smith, and his best spot has been number four.
“I feel like that’s his best spot.
“I feel like the best balance for our team is (Marnus) Labuschagne three, Smith four.
“For me, the number one consideration is ‘what’s best for the team?’.
“What order scores us the most runs?
“And if you look at how many runs we scored with Davey Warner in the team and Smudge batting at four, we scored a lot of runs
“With Smudge opening, we’ve still won games, but I don’t think we’ve scored as many runs as we could’ve.”
Khawaja also stressed that when Smith walked to the crease at number four, conditions were usually far more suited to what he preferred as a batsman.
“And when things are in his favour,” Khawaja said, “he’s almost unstoppable”.
The opener also pointed to Sir Donald Bradman as proof of why, when you have one of the greatest Test batsmen of your era, and any era, in the line-up, you bat them wherever it suits them best.
“If you know your cricket history, there was a situation in the 1930s where Don Bradman, faced with a green top, batted himself at number seven,” Khawaja recounted.
“Batted himself seven and scored over 200.
“(Laughs) Imagine if he did that now?
“But when you’ve got your best batsman, you want to protect him.
“And in Australia, the hardest time to bat, by far, is that first hour.
“New Kookaburra ball, new wicket, it’s always the hardest time – I don’t care who you are.
“And don’t get me wrong, Steve Smith will score runs as an opening batsman.
“But will he score more batting number four?
“I reckon he will.”
Khawaja added his pick for opener would be Head.
“At the end of the day, it’s a decision for the selectors,” he said.
“But if you have me opening, Labuschagne three, Smith four … I feel like Travis Head might be best suited.
“He’s obviously been very successful opening the batting in one-day cricket and, breaking it down, I’d probably lean towards him.
“But again, it’s not my decision.
“It is up to the selectors and I think they have been very good with their processes over the last couple of years.”
Asked what, if anything, of Head’s record innings against England would carry over to the Test arena, Khawaja said: “The confidence transfers over.
“When you’re seeing the ball well, scoring lots of runs and not much is going through your head, it’s a great place to be.
“And when you’re in that place, your confidence transfers over … it definitely does”.
Earlier this week, Australian coach Andrew McDonald revealed discussions surrounding Smith’s batting position for the upcoming Test series remained ongoing – with no final decision yet made.
Asked about exactly where Smith would bat, McDonald said: “That’s the question on everyone’s lips, isn’t it?
“Whilst we’ve got an eye to it, we haven’t made any firm decisions around that one.
“There’s plenty of speculation … but in the background, I’d be lying if I said the conversation wasn’t happening.
“Clearly, if we make a shift with Steve Smith, then someone else will have to go to the top.”
